29 August 2011
Global communications and IT services group BT is expanding its infrastructure investment in South Africa with the opening of an international network traffic routing facility at Melkbosstrand in the Western Cape.
The facility will enable the company to strengthen its position as a leading provider of networked IT services and also gain better control of its local infrastructure and improve services to enterprises with a presence in South Africa.
“The new infrastructure is of particular importance for the development of the regional and national economy,” the company said in a statement last week. “For example, Cape Town has established itself as a major global hub for call centres and is set to benefit greatly as BT introduces new services and solutions aimed at call centre operators.”
BT operates one of the world’s largest global internet protocol-based networks, which underpins mission-critical applications for leading global enterprises from a variety of industry sectors, including financial services, manufacturing, logistics, pharmaceutical and oil and gas industries.
Vendor neutral co-location
The new routing facility will be linked to Teraco, a vendor neutral co-location site in Cape Town, through which other operators and customers will connect directly onto the BT network.
Connectivity between the routing facility and Teraco will be provided by Dark Fibre Africa (DFA), an independent fibre network provider with 600km of fibre network in Cape Town and the surrounding areas.
In 2009, BT was awarded individual Electronic Communications Services (i-ECS) and Electronic Communication Network Services (i-ECNS) licences from the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa.
“Recent changes in the South African telecommunications regulatory environment have provided local and global telco providers with an opportunity to lower costs of connectivity and improve service levels offered to their customers,” BT said.
BT is one of the world’s leading providers of communications services and solutions, serving customers in more than 170 countries. British Telecommunications (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group.
SAinfo reporter
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