Norwegian network provider Tampnet announced in early February that it is partnering with two European data center operators to create a direct fiber link between two of the continent's oil capitals.
Data center service provider Internet For Business, based in Aberdeen, Scotland, and Norway-based Green Mountain AS have made a deal with Tampnet to deliver the world's first international fiber optic connection between two data centers. Tampnet operates one of the biggest offshore low latency, high capacity communication networks in the world, making them an ideal partner to connect the two facilities.
Tampnet acquired the subsea fiber connection from oil company BP in December 2014. It was originally used by oil platforms in the North Sea, but the company saw larger potential for providing faster, more reliable service between data centers that would minimize distance and hops on the network. By reducing latency, data is able to travel from Norway to Scotland and back in 10 milliseconds.
"We have seen a growing demand for improved connectivity to Norway, particularly from oil and gas businesses, and this is why we approached Tampnet and Green Mountain to create a solution," said IFB chief executive Graeme Gordon. "The design of the network will provide IFB's clients with incredible connection speeds which are faster than those between Aberdeen and London."
The terms of the deal allow IFB to directly connect their Aberdeen data center with Green Mountain's Stavanger, Norway data center using Tampnet's trans-North Sea fiber infrastructure. The fiber optic network operates across more than 1,550 miles between Scandinavia and the United Kingdom. The partnership will be the first international network of its kind between the two countries and it should offer noticeable cost savings for businesses currently using international point-to-point circuits.
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