Telecom Ramblings

Tinet announced today that they have been selected by SURFnet, the European research network based in the Netherlands.  The contract, which will span 5 years and cover IP transit from IPv4 to IPv6 and multicast services.  Tinet has had some traction in the educational network arena, already serving BELNET in Belgium and HEAnet in Ireland.  Tinet is of course the new incarnation of the Tiscali international network, now in the hands of private equity. 

I am still not entirely sure what will become of Tinet.  Is there room in the world for a pure wholesale IP transit provider?  Or will its private equity owners use it as a building block and seek to assemble something larger over time?  I tend to lean toward the latter view, if only because the wholesale IP space is such a rough neighborhood that no private equity group in its right mind would enter it without some sort of exit plan.

But for the short term Tinet’s path is clear enough, they need to put some distance between themselves and their Tiscali legacy.  That distance will be measured in contracts and revenue growth.