SSE Enterprise Telecoms connects customers over CityFibre network

Connectivity and colocation services supplier SSE Enterprise Telecoms has become the first customer on CityFibre’s recently acquired long-haul national network, and will use it to service customers in the M4 corridor.

SSE, which runs a 13,700km private telecoms network and has 15 datacentres dotted around the UK, plans to use a 48km stretch of dark fibre network connecting Reading and Slough. The capacity will be leased over a 15-year period.

“It is encouraging to see the breadth of fibre assets available both regionally and nationally from CityFibre. We look forward to a long term, mutually rewarding relationship as each of our businesses continues to grow rapidly,” said SSE managing director Colin Sempill.

CityFibre bought the national network assets of East Yorkshire-based KCOM – encompassing 1,100km of duct and fibre network and 1,100km of national long-distance network assets connecting datacentres and internet peering points – in December 2015 in a £90m deal.

It has exploited the assets to launch its gigabit city programme in Bristol. It has plans to address 24 other urban areas, including Bradford, Doncaster, Exeter, Leeds, Leicester, Manchester, Nottingham, Plymouth, Sheffield and Swindon.

It can now address 7,000 mobile cell sites, 24,500 public sector locations and more than a quarter of a million businesses, offering wholesale dark fibre connectivity to service providers. It claims to be the UK’s second largest supplier of such products, behind BT Openreach.

It has also signed a partnership agreement with Capita-owned connectivity supplier Updata to supply network services to its public sector customers.

“This agreement with SSE Enterprise Telecoms marks our first long-distance network [LDN] transaction and the beginning of a key trading relationship with a major national service provider,” said CityFibre commercial director Rob Hamlin.

“CityFibre represents a compelling proposition on the long-haul UK fibre market, and we look forward to more national service providers making use of our LDN.”