‘Last mile’ services now live in four key UK cities as part of ongoing Metro Access Network expansion programme
Neos Networks, one of the UK’s leading fibre connectivity suppliers, today revealed that it has completed the delivery of its three regional Metro Access Networks in Liverpool, Birmingham, and Manchester along with phase one of its deployment in London. The business connectivity provider announced plans to enter the market for last-mile services at the end of 2021, as part of its major Metro Network Expansion programme, targeting key metropolitan UK cities. With services now live in all four regions, Neos Networks is bringing fibre connectivity direct to thousands of locally based businesses across the cities.
At the time of this announcement, Neos Networks is ahead of schedule on its fourth Access Network build in London. Four of a planned eight routes are now live across the capital with the remaining phase of deployment on track for delivery over the next year. The entire Metro Network Expansion project makes up over 60km of Neos Networks’ national fibre footprint.
The strategic move by Neos Networks into last-mile access means the company no longer has to rely on third-party connectivity across these business hubs. As a result, it will now offer its customers improved timescales and lower costs to deliver the higher quality of service associated with the company’s nationwide UK backbone business network. The move provides Neos Networks customers with the same level of commitment that they have come to expect, but with an easier path to upgrade, quicker response for break fixes, and the network characteristics that meet their needs and growth ambitions.
The multi-million-pound investment has helped Neos Networks build out its on-net presence in the four cities to deliver a full end-to-end fibre connection to the doors of many. Neos has further invested into adapting its products to work over its own Access Tails, addressing opportunities to meet the connectivity needs of customers in multi-business units (MBUs) by driving a better overall quality of experience.
The delivery of high capacity, high bandwidth, low latency fibre connectivity will provide a critical foundation of digital infrastructure to support the growth of businesses in metro areas. New developments in key business districts will benefit from business-grade fibre connectivity to support the adoption of new applications and technologies underpinned by business resiliency, growth and efficiency improvements. The breakdown of fibre deployed in each city is 3.6km in Liverpool, 7.1km in Birmingham, 13.7km in Manchester, and 37km in London once the whole build is complete.
Neos Networks has already begun identifying early adopter customers in each region, working with those partners to understand the depths and requirements of businesses in their respective cities. As the business case grows within each region, Neos will explore additional opportunities to extend the reach of these access networks. An opportunity to grow the network has already been captured in Liverpool with the network extension having gone live in December.
Sarah Mills, Chief Revenue Officer at Neos Networks, said: “I’m thrilled that we’re nearing completion of our Metro Access Network builds in these four key UK cities. This project will underpin the growth of UK PLC by creating new opportunities for enterprises and driving investment within several new business districts. The ambition for our network expansion project has always been to help UK businesses realise the growth potential associated with resilient, secure, high-capacity business connectivity services. We look forward to engaging businesses on how we can support their network resiliency and priorities with the right connectivity solutions.”
As Neos Networks continues to assess the connectivity requirements of businesses in each city, it also plans to explore using its Optical Wavelength technology to deliver the right commercial packages for customers, particularly those in MBUs. This will help to ensure a guaranteed level of service to businesses over either an Optical or Ethernet connection. The network expansion into each of the cities is giving choice to customers regardless of their sector. For network players, the new infrastructure supports the data backhaul requirements of their services and will be particularly influential in supporting mobile operators with their local cell sites and as they rollout 5G and beyond.
