IT Systems Management

BT Secures Industry First Global Partnership With OneWeb

BT | November 02, 2021

BT and OneWeb have agreed terms for a new Distribution Partner Agreement, with OneWeb to provide Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite communication services across BT Group.* This builds on an initial Memorandum of Understanding signed in July and means BT is testing how LEO satellite technology integrates with its existing terrestrial capabilities to meet the communications needs of customers. On successful completion, BT will commence the first live trials with customers from early next year. The partnership will span a growing range of connectivity solutions around the world as well as specific opportunities for the UK market.

Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said: "I am thrilled to see the UK at the forefront of this emerging technology thanks to the Government's investment in OneWeb – a crucial part of our plans to cement our status as a global science and technology superpower."

Digital Secretary Nadine Dorries said: "The agreement between OneWeb and BT will help bring fast and reliable global connectivity, from the Highlands to the Himalayas. I'm delighted these two British companies have joined forces to research the technological benefits of working together, and I look forward to exploring how this could play a role in our mission to put hard-to-reach areas in the digital fast lane."

Philip Jansen, Chief Executive of BT Group, said: "Space is an emerging and enormous digital opportunity, and this is an important step towards harnessing its potential for BT's customers across the globe. We will put OneWeb's technology through its paces in our UK labs with the goal of delivering live trials in early 2022. Delivered securely and at scale, satellite solutions will be an important part of our plans to expand connectivity throughout the UK and globally, and to further diversify the range of services we can offer our customers."

"BT has taken the lead in the recognition of LEO satellite's advantage.  We are delighted as this agreement with BT Group represents an important strategic partnership for OneWeb as we continue to make progress towards our operational launch. We are excited to be playing such a key role in improving the resilience of the overall telecom infrastructure in the UK. OneWeb's connectivity platform will help bridge the last digital divides across the country and enhance the nation's digital infrastructure."

OneWeb's Chief Executive Officer Neil Masterson

OneWeb is expected to deliver global coverage by June 2022 through a constellation of 648 LEO satellites and is poised to deliver services from the North Pole to the 50th parallel, covering the entire United Kingdom, later this year. The new partnership supports BT's wider network ambition, set out in July this year, to deliver digital solutions across the entire UK by 2028, through a combination of an expanded network and 'on demand,' requestable solutions anywhere beyond. In building a converged, software-defined network, BT will leverage and integrate both terrestrial and non-terrestrial technologies to deliver on the goal of seamless, ubiquitous connectivity.

This agreement marks a clear path towards the first LEO solutions being available for customers within a year. As the next step, BT will test capabilities in its Bristol lab to demonstrate how they integrate with existing services. Current capacity levels within OneWeb satellites mean initial trials will focus on its role as a supplementary, low latency backhaul solution to sites where additional capacity or a back-up solution is required, and to deliver improved resilience for business customers. On successful completion, BT will begin early adopter trials for UK and international customers, expected early next year. As OneWeb grows their capacity, the list of future use cases could also widen, opening up the opportunity to explore the use of satellite for IoT backhaul and Fixed Wireless Access in rural areas.

The work with OneWeb shows the capabilities being developed by UK businesses in the pioneering area of space technology and follows the UK Government's recently published National Space Strategy, which recognises the enormous strategic opportunities on offer. BT, which boasts a heritage of nearly 60 years in space and satellite communication innovation, continues to explore a diverse range of partners across all its services, including space, to ensure the latest and best connectivity solutions are available for customers.

Spotlight

Organizations are rapidly moving to the cloud, leveraging infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform as-a-service (PaaS), and Database as-a-service as new ways to optimize their business, even though these environments present new risks to sensitive data. Data security solutions must be able to op

Spotlight

Organizations are rapidly moving to the cloud, leveraging infrastructure as a service (IaaS), software-as-a-service (SaaS), platform as-a-service (PaaS), and Database as-a-service as new ways to optimize their business, even though these environments present new risks to sensitive data. Data security solutions must be able to op

Related News

Application Infrastructure, Storage Management

Scala Data Centers Invests US$ 80 Million in the First Hyperscale Data Center in Tepotzotlán, Mexico

prnewswire | August 24, 2023

Scala Data Centers, the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market, is building its first data center in Mexico, SMEXTP01, with an initial investment of approximately US$ 80 million. The venture, located in the municipality of Tepotzotlán, about 25 miles from the country's capital in Mexico City (CDMX), will have an initial critical capacity of 5MW reinforcing Scala's strategy of enabling new markets in Latin America to meet the massive demands being made by large cloud and content providers, known as Hyperscale. Scala's new site is projected to begin operations in Q4 2023 and is already anchored by a large Hyperscale client. With 142,133 sqft (about 13.2 thousand square meters) of built area, SMEXTP01 HyperEdge data center will offer maximum customization and modularity and will be supplied with 100% renewable and certified energy, in line with the company's portfolio. "This new project underscores our commitment to enabling new markets in Latin America, either in unexplored locations or in regions with data center presence, but still lacking a dedicated approach to large IT capacities that truly serve the Hyperscale segment," explains Marcos Peigo, CEO and Co-Founder at Scala. "We are proud to spearhead this expansion and create unique conditions for massive colocation clients in the region through innovation, energy efficiency, and sustainable technology," he adds. Geographically, Mexico has a relevant and strategic position in the IT infrastructure segment. As the second largest data center and cloud market in Latin America, the country has robust growth rates of around 22% and 25% per year, respectively, and excellent connectivity infrastructure. Currently, there are 11 submarine cables connecting Mexico to the United States and the rest of the Americas. Alongside Chile, where Scala also operates and invests, Mexico is one of the only countries in the region that will have a direct connection via submarine cable to the Asian market. Scala's SMEXTP01 in Tepotzotlán city will uniquely bring together an ideal scenario for the hyperscale market - energy availability, connectivity, and proximity to a large consumer market for critical IT infrastructure. In addition to the investment in SMEXTP01, Scala continues its accelerated expansion plan, with the construction of new sites at Tamboré Campus (São Paulo, Brazil), Porto Alegre city (Rio Grande do Sul state, Brazil), Lampa (Chile), as well as advanced projects to implement other data centers in Fortaleza city (Ceará state, Brazil), Mexico and Colombia. Since the company's inception in 2020, Scala has invested more than R$ 8 billion (US$ 1,6 billion) in its projects in Latin America and expects to reach 500MW of distributed capacity over the next five years, in four countries in which it operates. In 2023, the company started operating three state-of-the-art data centers in Latin America, located in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), (13.2 MW of IT), Tamboré (Brazil) with 6MW of IT and Curauma (Chile) offering 5MW of IT. About Scala Data Centers Scala Data Centers is the leading Latin American platform of sustainable data centers in the Hyperscale market. Headquartered in Brazil and founded by DigitalBridge, it was developed to meet and exceed the growing demand for digital access in Latin America. Scala has a highly qualified team of over 800 professionals and applies a flexible and innovative approach to providing exceptional quality colocation services to hyperscale clients, cloud-based software and service providers, and large enterprises. We customize state-of-the-art solutions for each client in the construction of the latest generation data centers, with high availability, the best energy efficiency rates, and superior density. All this allied to the best sustainability practices guided by our ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) program.

Read More

Application Infrastructure, Windows Server OS

Palisade Infrastructure Announces Transaction with Consolidated Communications

businesswire | August 07, 2023

Palisade Infrastructure (“Palisade”) and Consolidated Communications, Inc. (“Consolidated”) have entered into an agreement whereby Palisade, on behalf of its managed funds, will acquire Consolidated’s assets in Washington state. The transaction includes Consolidated’s incumbent networks in Ellensburg and Yelm comprising a mixture of fiber-to-the-home and DSL technologies. Palisade intends to accelerate the build out of the fiber network in these markets, providing high speed, low latency connectivity to households and businesses. This is Palisade’s second broadband investment in Washington State following the announcement of the transaction to acquire Rainier Connect in December 2022. Palisade aims to develop a regional platform for fiber and high-speed broadband connectivity by investing in these markets to benefit all stakeholders including employees, customers and communities. Mike Reynolds, managing director at Palisade Infrastructure said, “We are excited to expand our fiber broadband platform in Washington State, in attractive markets that are in proximity to the Rainier Connect network. We look forward to continuing to grow the platform in the future.” This represents Palisade’s fourth transaction in North America and follows the closing of its investment in the PureSky Energy community solar platform in June 2023. Palisade is planning to launch a new fund focused on investing in digital connectivity and the energy transition later this year. Houlihan Lokey served as exclusive financial advisor and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP served as legal counsel to Palisade. Lazard served as the exclusive financial advisor to Consolidated Communications on the transaction. The transaction remains subject to federal, state and local regulatory approvals and customary closing conditions. About Palisade Infrastructure Palisade Infrastructure forms part of the Palisade Group, a global independent, specialist infrastructure and real assets manager. Palisade Group has 30 active investments in its portfolio covering a broad range of sectors. Palisade Infrastructure’s North American capability focuses on the energy transition, digitization and transport infrastructure sectors. Palisade Infrastructure has a partnership-focused approach with a long-term investment horizon. For more information visit palisadegroup.com. About Consolidated Communications Consolidated Communications Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: CNSL) is dedicated to moving people, businesses and communities forward by delivering the most reliable fiber communications solutions. Consumers, businesses and wireless and wireline carriers depend on Consolidated for a wide range of high-speed internet, data, phone, security, cloud and wholesale carrier solutions. With a network spanning more than 57,500 fiber route miles, Consolidated is a top 10 U.S. fiber provider, turning technology into solutions that are backed by exceptional customer support.

Read More

Application Storage, Windows Server OS

Accelevation Holdings, LLC Acquires Instor Solutions Ltd - Forming the USA's Largest, Integrated Data Center Services Solutions Provider

prnewswire | August 02, 2023

Accelevation Holdings, LLC, a vertically integrated group of manufacturing companies serving the data center, electric vehicle, and robotic markets, has acquired Instor Solutions Ltd, a comprehensive, mission-critical solutions provider, for an undisclosed sum. Through the acquisition, Accelevation will integrate Instor's data center white space installation and project management expertise with its data center containment and caging solutions business, Conatech, to form the Accelevation Data Center Business Unit. The acquisition has established a new, vertically integrated data center business unit comprising both brands to create a single, customer-facing entity and forming the USA's largest integrated data center services solutions provider. Together, the Accelevation Data Center Business Unit will solve key challenges for hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise customers, including faster product design, manufacturing, and supply chain capabilities, with dedicated white space integration, services, and project management expertise. By combining both leading brands, Accelevation has created the only organization within the U.S. market capable of providing fully integrated, data center infrastructure product manufacturing, with self-performing, fit-up solutions design, and project delivery. The companies comprehensive services offering will propel hyperscale, colocation, and enterprise data center operators to benefit from industry-leading speed and efficiency – offering enhanced value throughout the entire life cycle and delivering world-class data center environments at accelerated pace and scale. Through its integrated sales, manufacturing, and operations teams, for example, Conatech's customers now have immediate access to the data center white space design, build, and integration services that Instor has built its world-leading reputation on. In turn, Instor has secured unparalleled access to the vertically integrated manufacturing capabilities used by Accelevation to produce its Conatech data center products. "By combining Instor's white space design and services expertise with Conatech's manufacturing and product capabilities, the Accelevation Data Center Business Unit is uniquely positioned to serve and support the data center market as it fulfils its growth potential," said Sam Prudhomme, President, Data Center Business Unit, Accelevation Holdings. "Our customers recognize that together, we're better - empowering them to grow at unprecedented speed and scale, and at the pace the market demands. Importantly, our shared values and methodological approach will ensure we continue to treat our customers the way they want to be treated, setting a new standard for integrated data center solutions and services, globally." Accelevation President and CEO, Michael Rubiera, said, "We are thrilled to welcome Instor to the Accelevation portfolio of innovative companies. Combining Instor's 40+ sales and project management professionals to our Accelevation portfolio creates one of the most comprehensive and all-encompassing solution providers of data center products and installations in the world. We couldn't be more excited about the possibilities and growth this acquisition provides." About Accelevation, LLC Accelevation is a vertically integrated group of manufacturing companies serving the data center, electric vehicle and robotic markets. The organization's mission is to build businesses and work cultures that positively impact employees, their families, their community and their customers. At its core, Accelevation understands that it is their responsibility to plot a course for a more mindful way of doing business.

Read More