Zen's New Network Investment Increases Geographical Coverage

June 8, 2007; 05:54 AM
Zen Internet's ongoing network expansion has reached its next planned stage, with the introduction of a new Point of Presence (PoP) in Leeds. Zen is a leading UK Internet Service Provider that has achieved huge success delivering consistently high quality services, due to the continual investment in its core network infrastructure.

The new Leeds site will ensure that customer bandwidth and service demands continue to be met in a highly resilient way and ahead of demand. The additional location means that there is a new link to London which is completely separate from the existing Zen network. This is in addition to the link the ISP already has to New York, which also provides resiliency and the reassurance that Zen does not rely on one point of presence in the UK.

As part of the network expansion, Imtech Telecom, a technical services provider that specialises in the design, build and maintenance of next generation networks, has supplied Juniper Networks T-series routers into Zen’s new Point of Presence. T-series routing platforms are designed to provide high-performance, scalable and highly reliable IP/MPLS-optimized core transport, providing service providers such as Zen Internet with best-in-class quality of service able to support a comprehensive range of data, video and voice services.

David Wylie, Principal Engineer, Zen Internet, commented:
“A major benefit of the Leeds site is that it is close enough to existing Zen sites in Rochdale and Manchester to allow dark fibre links directly between sites, leading to virtually unlimited bandwidth growth. With this extra network link there is also a physically separate network route to London, other than our HQ and Manchester links. If there was ever a regional power failure, Leeds is far enough away not to be affected, providing us with additional cover in the UK. We have also invested in new network equipment at Leeds which has the capability to be expanded to handle these huge bandwidths in a scalable fashion.”

The resiliency of this network will further be increased when BT install Central Pipes in June, as the backhaul of these into their network will be to a separate geographical location from existing Zen Central Pipes.

Stuart Birchall, Technical Services Director, Zen Internet, added:
“Zen’s goal is to provide the best possible Internet service, we provide network resiliency through using the best technology available, and continue to do this as proved through this latest work and our transatlantic link of 2006. With geographically diverse locations for our network we can emphasise our ability to deliver a reliable service. The potential for future expansion remains open, alongside new product opportunities.”

About Zen Internet:
Established in 1995, and one of the first ISPs in the UK, Zen Internet provides a full range of high quality services to the business and home user, from the latest in high speed DSL Broadband Internet access and complete hosting packages to state of the art Web site design, and the next generation in managed network security. Zen Internet won three awards in the 2006 ISPAs (Internet Service Providers' Association) in the categories of Best Uncontended Service, Best Heavy Business Broadband and Best Business ISP, which continued with Best Dial up and Best Business Email in 2007. These followed on from an ISPA Best Light Business Broadband award in 2005 and the PC Pro Best ISP Broadband awards in 2004, 2005 and 2006.
www.zen.co.uk

About Imtech Telecom - www.imtechtelecom.co.uk
Imtech Telecom is a leading technical services provider in telecoms and broadcasting and specialises in the design, build, installation and maintenance of carrier class networks for Service Providers. The technical services provider combines consultancy expertise, technical knowledge, industry experience and best of breed technologies to optimise next generation networks for Service Provider customers, enabling them to increase ARPU, lower operating expenditure and develop new revenue streams.

Imtech Telecom UK works with some of Europe’s leading service providers, cable operators, carriers and private operators, such as NTT, FLAG Telecom, PIPEX, Easynet, Plusnet, Bulldog, ntl:, Telewest, and Lancaster University. The company partners with best of breed network vendors including Juniper Networks, Lucent Technologies, Ciena, World Wide Packets, StreamShield and Ellacoya.

Imtech Telecom is headquartered in The Netherlands, with offices in the UK, Sweden, Belgium and Germany. The company is a subsidiary of Imtech N.V., Imtech N.V. is a European technical services provider in the field of electrical engineering, ICT and mechanical engineering. With approximately 14,500 employees, Imtech realizes annual revenues of 2,4 billion euro. Imtech holds strong positions in the buildings, industry, marine, infrastructure and telecoms markets in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain, and the UK and is also active in Eastern Europe. Imtech shares are listed on the Euronext Stock Exchange (Amsterdam), where Imtech is included in the Amsterdam SmallCap Index (AScX) and the Next 150 index.

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