This will enable more businesses, especially those in Manchester and the North, to take advantage of high-capacity infrastructure.
Equinix MA5 is the latest in an extensive list of more than 160 data centres that Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s national network connects. Equinix Manchester MA5 is especially attractive to hyperscalers, connectivity resellers and enterprises requiring ultra-low-latency connections.
With scalable hardware that can accommodate high bandwidths, up to 100Gbps, the new routes can support many managed backhaul services, including 10Gbps National Ethernet, 10Gbps and 100Gbps National High Capacity Services (NHCS). This builds on the company’s planned upgrade to its NHCS offering. This started with the launch of a new NHCS core network that provided simpler provisioning for high bandwidth, ultra-low latency connectivity with no distance limitations.
Virgin Media Business Wholesale is also upgrading network capability at four other data centres in the UK including: Equinix LD5, Equinix LD8, Telehouse North and Global Switch, which are all now live. These new upgrades all provide complete diversity and a cost-effective way for organisations to build their networks at scale. By pre-provisioning capability at these sites, partners can bring connections online quicker.
These network upgrades form part of Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s ongoing multi-million-pound investment programme to improve its 10Gbps and higher portfolio. With planned expansion into more core hub sites later in 2024, the company will eventually deliver full nationwide availability.
John Chester, wholesale fixed director at Virgin Media O2 Business, said, "We're excited to add this flagship site to our already extensive portfolio of data centre locations across the UK. It sets us up to provide our wholesale partners with more efficient and cost-effective network solutions, and further increases the reach and diversity of our network across the region. As our £10 million upgrade programme gathers pace, and I'm looking forward to sharing further updates to our 10G and 100G capability, as the programme thunders on."
Lorraine Wilkinson, regional vice president, UK at Equinix, said, "Virgin Media Business Wholesale’s launch of new fibre routes at Equinix’s MA5 data centre reflects the increasing demand for digital services and the need for network service providers (NSPs) to keep up with the accelerated pace of innovation. Leveraging Equinix’s technologies, NSPs can deliver high-quality, profitable services. This further investment in Manchester will help the UK’s position as a strategic digital business hub, where a 43 per cent compound annual growth rate in interconnection bandwidth is expected by 2025, driven by network, content and media, and financial services demand."