Sure has begun work on a project to futureproof the Channel Islands’ telecoms networks.
The project, an investment of more than £3m, will upgrade the infrastructure that connects the Channel Islands to the global internet. It forms part of the local telecoms provider’s five-year infrastructure investment plan announced last year.
Undersea fibre connectivity, which connects the islands to the UK and France, and from there to the rest of the world, will be replaced and upgraded, and engineers will commission new networking equipment in London and Paris.
The upgrade work will enable increased resiliency and extra capacity to be added in increments of 100 Gigabits – an increase of more than 10 times on technology used today.
Sure has selected systems integration company Telent and network equipment manufacturer Juniper Networks to complete the work, which is already under way with an expected completion date of early 2021.
Sure Group CEO Ian Kelly (pictured) commented: “This is a significant long-term investment for Sure, with the current pandemic situation a reminder that telecoms infrastructure is a key and growing component of our economy and daily lives.
“There’s never been more demand on our networks, and we want to make sure we stay well ahead of this by investing in long-term telecoms infrastructure that futureproofs the Channel Islands.”
James Morgan, Vice President, Enterprise Sales, EMEA at Juniper Networks, added: “The varied geographies and environments of the Channel Islands can bring unique challenges to the deployment and management of telecommunication networks.
"By tackling this complexity together, Juniper can help Sure to seamlessly migrate its core network from 10G to 100G in order to meet the current challenges and set itself up for future success.”