Colt Expands Network Into Iceland

Pan-European network operator Colt Group (LON:COLT, news) is expanding its network out to the northwest, far beyond its usual haunts. They are adding a PoP up in Iceland, hooking up the Verne Global data center campus in Keflavik. If that location sounds familiar, it’s because it does. In September, Colt manufactured and shipped a 500 square meter data center to the same campus by sea in 37 pieces.  Colt is building a diverse ring to the island with endpoints in London and Amsterdam.

Over the last year or two, a concerted effort has emerged trying to squeeze Iceland into a transatlantic bandwidth market that has always focused on New York and London and little else. Which forces? Well, the same idea is powering the Emerald Networks transatlantic cable buildout plans, which formally launched earlier this winter. And the UK’s Wellcome Trust is the big backer behind both Emerald Networks and Verne Global.

The island’s geothermal power sources do give it the perfect green energy credentials in today’s environment. Meanwhile its location offers the possibility of cloud-based services aimed at both continents. Colt’s addition of a PoP in Keflavik suggests that they are taking the idea quite seriously.

 

 

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Categories: Internet Backbones · Undersea cables