Zen Internet secures Transatlantic Link for ‘Next Generation’ Online Services

Date published: 17/01/2006

Zen Internet, Rochdale's multi-award winning Internet Service Provider, has announced that it has now brought live its own direct link to the USA. This means that Zen can build upon the reputation of resilience and quality performance levels it already has, whilst looking at new products. The link runs from Rochdale, via Southport, to New York using an STM-16 service and has allowed Zen to move into the next generation of Internet provision.

David Wylie, Principal Engineer, Zen Internet, commented: “Zen Internet's goal is to provide the best possible Internet Service to our customers. On the technical side we achieve this by engineering our network to be as resilient as possible, using the best technology available and providing extra capacity ahead of demand. Our new, direct, link to the USA fulfils all of these requirements, building upon our already highly reliable infrastructure to meet the future needs of our customers.”

Iain Johnstone, Sales and Partner Programme Manager, Zen Internet, added: “This is testament to Zen’s philosophy that continued investment in our network and service will ensure that our customers continue to enjoy the service for which we have become renowned. An investment on this scale also demonstrates our commitment to supporting the UK broadband community by providing the alternative route to important market opportunities."

The benefits of this link for Zen customers will include having a resilient link outside the points of presence in London and Manchester. Unlike many other UK ISPs, Zen is not totally dependent on any single Point of Presence. Although a major network outage in London would have serious consequences for the Internet in the UK, the effect on Zen’s customers would be minimised as Zen have their own direct connection to the USA and, therefore, to the rest of the world.

The link also ensures that Zen’s network will have plenty of capacity to handle future growth. Zen already has excess external connectivity, but they always build out their network well in advance of customer's requirements.

The link will also give Zen a more direct path and, therefore, lower latency to many sites in the USA. The cable takes a very direct physical route from the UK to the USA, with Southport being about the nearest coastal point to Rochdale where Zen is based. The link will also allow the potential for Zen to develop products to allow customers to take advantage of this new capability.