Virgin Media Business, which already provides wholesale backhaul connectivity to Vodafone and to EE and Three UK’s network services provider MBNL, has signed a ten year deal with Telefonica to support the operator’s impending LTE launch.
Under the 10 year deal with Telefonica UK, Virgin Media Business will connect base stations to its fibre network via a Gigabit Ethernet service.
Virgin Media Business deploys Sync-E (Synchronous Ethernet G.8262) based technology from Transmode. Sync-E is a standard that provides synchronisation across an Ethernet network.
Adrian Di Meo, Chief Technology Officer, Telefonica UK, said in a press release statement: “Over the past five years we’ve seen huge growth in demand for mobile data as the number of consumers using smartphones and tablets has increased. With our 4G network launching this summer, data growth will only continue to rise and this new fibre agreement with Virgin Media Business will give us the rock solid foundation we need and help us deliver a great network experience for our customers.”
George Wareing, director of mobile and broadcast, Virgin Media Business said: “Over the last two years we’ve secured mobile backhaul contracts with all four of the UK’s major mobile network operators. It’s a sign that the backhaul market is moving extremely quickly and thanks to the speed and resilience of our fibre network, we’ve been able to make the most of that opportunity. By working closely in partnership with mobile operators we’ve been able to develop and deploy innovative and unique technologies that enable Sync-E as standard.”
