Telecom Ramblings

European backbone operator Interoute joined the growing list of network operators who have begun 2010 on an expansive note, turning up a new link to Gibraltar with GibTelecom, the dominant provider of both wireless and wireline services in the British territory.  The 900km route from Madrid is independent of other routes in southern Spain from Telefonica and others, offering Gibraltar improved connectivity.  Initial connectivity on the new link will be 2.5Gbps, but more will surely be on the way down the line.    

Gibraltar has been a bit of an odd case for over 300 years, ever since England took it from Spain in order to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean.  Does that historically strategic position translate into the world of telecom?  Perhaps not so far anyway, but you can’t blame GibTelecom from trying to leverage it anyway.  For its part, after expanding steadily over the last few years Interoute now runs fiber from Gibraltar to Moscow.  One wonders when they will get tired of limiting themselves to a single continent.