C&W Completes Second Phase Of Global Network

The second of three phases is completed, officials said Wednesday, on the world's first single-network network.

by Jim Wagner of internetnews.com [December 13, 2000]

Cable & Wireless announced Wednesday the completion of the second phase of construction of its $3.5 billion global IP network.

When finished in the summer or fall of 2001, the network will be the world's first true single global network, according to Chad Couser, Cable & Wireless spokesperson.

"We've taken our U.S. network and built it out to create a single global network," Couser said. "And unlike our competition's, which is made up of a patchwork of different networks, we'll be able to offer our customers one global service level agreement throughout the world."

Now, instead of hopping from one network to the other, customers can access content on C&W's one network, cutting down on latency issues. When completed, officials say, data traffic between Toyko and London will travel on the network at the same speeds and consistency as traffic between Los Angeles and Washington, D.C.

Construction of the network
The network will be made up of 84 nodes throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Capacity will be a whopping OC-192 throughout.

The buildout will add 30 nodes in Europe and the U.S. in the third phase. In Asia, the network will connect with Japan's node in Osaka and another four undetermined nodes. C&W is also scheduled to add Points of Presense to 80 cities throughout Japan. Andy MacLeod, C&W global network operations executive vice president, said the mesh architecture, combined with the global network, creates a unique business solution.

"This infrastructure gives Cable & Wireless a unique global capability," MacLeod said. "Its seamless design—the only one in the industry—enables us to deliver our customers' data quickly and reliably throughout the world and provide the capability for next-generation IP services, with guaranteed service levels."

The mesh network
Cable&Wireless is one of the first global backbone companies to use the mesh network architecture, considered the next step in the evolution of the SONET-ring architecture used in many current networks.

Instead of traveling in a linear fashion, as in a SONET ring, data is transmitted on a mesh network through the fastest node available. The completion of the second phase gives C&W 23 nodes throughout the U.S., 12 in Europe, and two in Asia.

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