Vtesse News

All residents of Hatt and Higher Pill now have access to one of the world’s fastest broadband services

Hertford, 19th August 2010

Internet service provider, Vtesse Broadband (www.vtessebroadband.co.uk), today announced that its super-fast broadband service is now available to all residents of two Cornish communities.  Everyone living and working in Higher Pill, Saltash, as well as in the nearby village of Hatt, can now connect directly to Vtesse’s own high speed, ultra-reliable national network, taking advantage of one of the world’s fastest broadband services to improve the way they surf the web.

Some 574 households in Higher Pill, and a further 262 in Hatt, which have until now only been able to get very slow broadband speeds, can now access one of five super-fast services offered by Vtesse Broadband.  Catering for both home and professional users, these services provide a range of upload and download speeds, with a fastest available download speed of 40Mbps.  This places the two communities near the very top of the world’s broadband league.  According to recent research from US technology giant, Akamai , the average UK broadband speed is just 3.8Mbps.  Even in South Korea, where residents have access to the world’s best broadband services, the average speed is a comparatively low 12Mbps.

“Hatt and Higher Pill, like so many places in Cornwall and the South West, have endured painfully slow broadband connections, making even the simplest online task – sending an email attachment, checking the weather forecast or uploading photos to Facebook – a complete chore,” said Aidan Paul, chief executive, Vtesse Broadband.  “Super-fast broadband makes all this information available at the touch of a button and really has the power to change the way these communities use the internet for work, study and leisure.”

All Vtesse Broadband services come with a ‘What You See Is What You Get’ reassurance, allowing potential customers to see the actual – rather than the best case scenario – speeds they will receive prior to placing their orders.  More information about speeds, pricing and availability can be found at www.vtessebroadband.co.uk.

Prior to launching this new service, Vtesse Broadband conducted joint technical trails with Virgin Media, offering super-fast broadband to 15 households in Hatt and Higher Pill.  “The response to these trials was fantastic.  Having been stuck in the digital slow lane for so long, participants were able to enjoy services like BBC iPlayer, YouTube HD and LOVEFiLM without buffering or delay,”. continued Paul.  “These days it is very common for there to be multiple internet users in each household, as well as multiple internet capable devices, including PCs, Macs, gaming consoles, media streamers, smart phones and TVs. While dad or mum may be working, the kids are doing their homework or surfing; for these people, Vtesse’s super-fast services make a huge difference.”

Higher Pill and Hatt were chosen for this trial as they what are what are known as ‘Final Third’ communities, located too far away from their nearest telephone exchanges to receive broadband services above 2Mbps.  Vtesse has ambitions to make its super-fast service available to hundreds of other Final Third communities, but is calling for the Government to review telecoms regulation and rates in order to make this economically viable.

“One third of UK homes and businesses either have no broadband at all or experience poor connection speeds; a situation which is grossly unfair for those who fall on the wrong side of the digital divide,” said Paul.  “This gap exists because of the way companies like ourselves are taxed and charged for bringing services to new areas.  Until these barriers come down, it will be uneconomical to deliver broadband nationwide.”

Anyone experiencing poor broadband performance can register for Vtesse Broadband on its website: www.vtessebroadband.co.uk.  This register will be used as a guide for future service deployments.  

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Notes to editors:

Regulation and rates

At the moment, telecoms operators still do not have equitable access to the poles, fibre and cabling ducts operated by BT and other utilities providers, making it expensive to get new fibre optic cables to people’s communities, homes and businesses.  Adding to this expense, BT is also able to charge its competitors more for the use of sub-loop unbundling components than it charges itself.  Finally, the current fibre optic cable rates make it relatively much more expensive for smaller operators to run fibre optic broadband services to Final Third communities, which is a situation that must be resolved

High-speed broadband no longer just a pipedream for residents of Birch Green

Hertford. 10th August 2010

Vtesse Broadband (www.vtessebroadband.co.uk ), the new broadband arm of Vtesse Networks, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announced that Ed Vaizey, Government Minister for Communication, Culture and the Creative Industries, has officially switched on its new super-fast broadband service in the village of Birch Green, Hertfordshire. 

Situated too far away from the local BT exchange to receive high-speed broadband services, Birch Green had previously been classified as a ‘Final Third’ community, experiencing download speeds of less than 2Mbps, with no access to alternative services.  In stark contrast, the village’s residents and local businesses can now connect directly to Vtesse Networks’ high speed, ultra-reliable national fibre network, enjoying download speeds of up to 40Mbps, around 40 times faster than previously available services.

“Until now it’s been ‘Hobson’s choice’ for the people of Birch Green; slow broadband or no broadband,” said Aidan Paul, chief executive, Vtesse Networks.  “Our new super-fast service, which Ed Vaizey is officially turning on today, will change the way this community uses the internet, at last making it possible to do the things so many of us take for granted, like watching iPlayer, uploading photos to Facebook, emailing invoices to clients, or simply ordering groceries. Having been broadband-deprived for so long, Birch Green now has access to one of the fastest broadband services in the UK, if not the world.”

Vtesse Broadband caters for both home and professional users, providing a choice of five services and offering a range of upload and download speeds.  All these services feature Vtesse Broadband’s ‘What You See Is What You Get’ reassurance, allowing potential customers to see the actual speeds that they will receive prior to placing their orders.

Vtesse Broadband is also available in neighbouring Final Third community, Hertingfordbury.  Over the next few months, the service will be rolled out to other broadband ‘poor-spots’ in Cornwall, Warwickshire and Cambridgeshire.

Vtesse Broadband has ambitious plans to make its super-fast service available to millions of homes and small businesses throughout the UK.  However, it is calling for acceleration of current regulatory process and a review of the fibre tax if widespread deployment is to be achieved.  Telecoms operators still do not have equitable access to the poles, fibre and cabling ducts operated by BT and other utilities providers, adding to the expense of laying fibre to Final Third communities.  Furthermore, BT charges its competitors more for the use of sub-loop unbundling components than it charges itself.  Finally, the Valuation Office Agency’s administration of the fibre optic broadband tax acts as a disincentive to operators looking to extend their networks into new communities. Whilst none of these are new issues, progress towards resolution has so far been slow.

“As it currently stands, it’s simply too expensive to rollout super-fast broadband to Final Third communities on a grand scale,” continued Paul.  “However, rather than asking for Government grants to help improve broadband access, all we want is a level-playing field.  The current system is stacked against new market entrants, but if these barriers are removed, we’ll be much more likely to see an accelerated rollout of these services nationwide.” 

People living in communities with poor broadband performance can register for Vtesse Broadband on its website: www.vtessebroadband.co.uk.  This register will be used as a guide for future deployments.

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Vtesse Broadband is a new undertaking by Vtesse Networks (www.vtesse.com ). The new business has been created to try to solve the issues faced by Final Third broadband communities by taking advantage of:

1. Vtesse Networks’ national fibre optic network; 2. Regulatory and rating changes that would make it more cost effective to extend its fibre routes into Final Third areas; and 3. Technical advances in Fibre to the Home (FTTH), Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) and wireless technologies all of which, individually and in combination, could potentially allow for wide scale deployment.

Rural hamlet near Huntingdon to become “best connected community” in the UK

Hertford. 12th July 2010

Vtesse Broadband (www.vtessebroadband.co.uk ), the new broadband arm of Vtesse Networks, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announced the next Final Third community to benefit from its super-fast broadband services.

Rural hamlet Broughton, near Huntingdon in Cambridgeshire will see participating residents connected by fibre directly to Vtesse Networks national fibre optic network, providing an almost infinitely scalable amount of bandwidth directly to their homes. Broughton will likely become the best conected Final Third Community in the UK.

Vtesse Broadband is deploying Fibre to the Home (FTTH) using a combination of underground and overground fibre optic cabling. The underground routes connect new Vtesse Broadband equipment in Broughton to the Vtesse national network and the overground (pole) routes connect individual homes to the new services.

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse commented “Broughton was chosen at this stage as it lies close to one of Vtesse’s main arterial fibre optic routes, making the cost of bringing fibre to the community acceptable. We are also very keen to test the practicality of pole sharing and this community is largely pole fed for both power and telecoms. We will be looking to share existing poles and also to use own where necessary.

Our deployments across the UK now cover Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC), Fibre to the Mast (wireless) and Fibre to the Home and the data we are getting from these comparative projects will guide future deployment. Each of these technologies has its place in providing solutions for broadband deprived Final Third communities.

One thing is for sure though. For any of them to stand a chance of wide-scale deployment by broadband operators, three pronged support by Government is necessary. Firstly, equitable shared access to the poles and ducts of the main utility suppliers to bring the costs of deploying fibre to down an acceptable level. It is widely perceived that this “problem” has been fixed, but the current timetable is likely to see 2 years elapse before implementation. This is clearly unacceptable to broadband deprived consumers. Secondly, we need an immediate review of the “fibre taxes” recently revised and implemented by the VOA. They kill stone dead the business case for fibre to the community and fibre to the home.

Thirdly, we need OFCOM to pay urgent attention to the charges levied by Openreach for sub-loop unbundling. At the moment, they just don’t stack up.”

Vtesse Broadband plan to turn on their new services in Broughton this Autumn.

Vtesse Broadband have introduced a register for people with poor broadband performance on www.vtessebroadband.co.uk and invite people who believe that they should have better service to do so. The register will be used as a guide for future deployments.

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Notes to editors:

1. Google Maps – Broughton - http://bit.ly/ctLtLJ

2. The term "Final Third" was coined in the "Digital Britain" report to describe one third of the UK population who currently are, for economic reasons and unless action is taken, unlikely ever to be able to receive super-fast broadband.

2. Super-fast broadband is defined as more than ten times the current universal service commitment speed of 2Mbps. Full screen internet TV, online movies, high definition iPlayer and similar catch-up TV services, YouTube, interactive training and video conferencing services all benefit from super-fast broadband.

3. There are Vtesse Broadband projects for Final Third Communities in Hertfordshire, Wiltshire and Cornwall. Details can be found here http://bit.ly/9wf8Hy, here http://bit.ly/bmMbiZ and here http://bit.ly/c7ZYoB .

4. The new VOA fibre taxes are well described in an independent view here http://bit.ly/cUuxqc

About Vtesse Broadband (www.vtessebroadband.co.uk)

Vtesse Broadband is a new undertaking by Vtesse Networks. The new business has been created to try to solve the problems of Final Third broadband communities by taking advantage of 1. Vtesse Networks national fibre optic network, 2. Regulatory and rating changes that would make it more cost effective to extend its fibre routes into Final Third areas and 3. Technical advances in Fibre to the Home (FTTH), Fibre to the Cabinet (FTTC) and Wireless technologies all of which, individually and in combination, could potentially allow for widescale deployment.

For more information, email aidan.paul@vtesse.com or call him on 01992 532 100

40 times improvement in download speeds for broadband poor-spots

Hertford. 5th July 2010

Vtesse Broadband, the new broadband arm of Vtesse Networks, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announced the availability of a range of new super-fast broadband services for the "Final Third" communities of Birch Green and Hertingfordbury in Hertfordshire.

Commenting on the news, Oliver Heald, Member of Parliament for North East Hertfordshire, said "I welcome the news that Vtesse Broadband is piloting super-fast broadband in the County via its fibre optic network to provide fast and reliable service in broadband poor-spots at Birch Green and Hertingfordbury. These are places some distance from their local telephone exchange and residents and homeworkers in those areas have endured the irritation of slow download speeds for too long. Action to improve speeds is good news."

The five new services available from www.vtessebroadband.co.uk cater for both home and professional users. They offer reliable fast and super-fast download speeds of up to 40Mbit/sec – around 40 times faster than current services in those areas.

Those to benefit include students whose online coursework will suddenly become usable and Families who will benefit from fast access to online shopping, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter as well as entertainment content from iPlayer and other TV services. Businesses particularly will benefit as their customers see them present a more responsive, capable and professional image.

All of the services feature Vtesse Broadband’s "What You See Is What You Get" reassurance making it easy for potential customers to see on the website, prior to making a purchase, what actual download and upload speeds they will get.

The scope of Vtesse Broadband’s ambition for further deployment is significant, with targets of 500,000 homes openly discussed by Chief Executive Aidan Paul. Aidan comments "As things stand today, it isn’t economically viable to roll out super-fast broadband to much of the Final Third. The BT charges to other operators for sub-loop rental have not attracted regulatory scrutiny and are substantially higher than the equivalent full-loop charges, and the charges it applies to its own downstream business. There is substance to our ambition however and much will depend upon the speed at which telecoms regulator OFCOM drives down sub-loop and associated costs, and requires BT and other infrastructure owners to allow shared access to existing underground fibre optic ducts and over-ground telephone and electricity poles each of which could reduce costs and time to market. We think it is best to see what can be achieved by levelling the playing field before considering other Government intervention."

Vtesse Broadband have introduced a register for people with poor broadband performance on www.vtessebroadband.co.uk and invite people who believe that they should have better service to do so. The register will be used as a guide for future deployments.

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Hertford. 9th June 2010

Now’s the time to measure BT’s support for infrastructure sharing

Vtesse Networks is the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services. Vtesse Networks are pioneering the provision of affordable high speed broadband services for residents of Final Third communities and welcome the speech by Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media at the Hospital Club in London earlier this week.

In the context of providing pro-active support for the 33% of the population (The Final Third) who are currently never likely to receive super-fast broadband services without Government intervention, the Secretary argues for immediate implementation of OFCOMs recommendations to require BT to “open up” unused portions of its infrastructure to telecoms operators like Vtesse Networks.

The implications are far reaching. The cost of digging trenches for fibre optic cables represents the largest element of Final Third broadband deployment costs and presents the greatest barrier to solving the Final Third “problem”. Giving alternative operators equitable access to unused space inside the existing underground ducts (pipes) that contain BT’s fibre and copper network as well as the ability to share the telephone poles that carry telephone lines to so many rural and older homes should, depending upon BT’s commercial terms for such access, have an extremely beneficial effect on the cost of super-fast broadband deployment for many Final Third communities.

Vtesse Networks are currently implementing super-fast broadband pilot projects for Final Third communities in Wiltshire and Hertfordshire where access to BT underground ducts and BT telephone poles could help to significantly defray the high costs of reaching Final Third residents in those counties and accelerating progress.Vtesse Networks are encouraged by early support from BT and look forward to a satisfactory and suitably fast response to these first tests of policy.

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks, commented “The Government’s goal to see Britain enjoy the best super-fast broadband network in Europe is a realisable ambition. To do it economically requires not only the co-operation of BT but also the creativity, determination and flexibility of operators like Vtesse Networks who are prepared to test the boundaries of technology, co-operation and collective capability in order to bring potentially unique solutions to each Final Third community. This can be done.”

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Notes to editors:

1. Full text Jeremy Hunt speech at the Hospital Club - http://www.culture.gov.uk/news/ministers_speeches/7132.aspx2. Vtesse Networks press release – “Vtesse to pilot super-fast broadband for Hertfordshire ‘Final Third’ communities” - www.vtesse.com/newsdetails.asp?id=273. Vtesse Networks press release – “Vtesse Networks to trial super-fast wireless broadband in rural Wiltshire” - www.vtesse.com/newsdetails.asp?id=24

About Vtesse Networks’ Final Third project

During the last 12 months Vtesse Networks have embarked upon a number of pilot projects across England to test the feasibility of using it’s extensive national fibre optic network for the advantage of Final Third communities. The Vtesse Network reaches the majority of larger towns and cities in England, Scotland and Wales and is one of the most economic and technically capable network infrastructures in the world. Providing service to communities that are outside of the major conurbations that the network currently serves requires that it be extended to reach them. The traditional method for telecoms companies to achieve this is by digging up roads and laying new cables, but the costs of this are prohibitive in the light of the relatively small returns that might be expected from smaller conurbations of homes and businesses. BT’s underground ducts and telephone poles often reach the heart of these communities. Whilst there are always likely to be some works to “join together” BT network assets with Vtesse Network assets, the scale, timescales, disruption and cost of such work should be greatly reduced with infrastructure sharing when compared to digging in new fibre routes.

So, it is the poles, ducts and new fibre circuits that allow us to get economically and operationally closer to Final Third communities. Connecting individual properties to that “new” infrastructure provides challenges too and Vtesse Networks pilot projects encompass Fibre to the Home, Fibre to the Cabinet and Wireless, each of which, we believe, has a role to play in seeking the best solution for each community.

Further government support is needed

Local Authorities currently charge telecoms companies business rates for each pair of fibre optic cables that they deploy to Final Third communities. These charges are inconsistently applied and Vtesse Networks, for example, can be charged up to 40 times more in tax for its cables than BT is charged for theirs. Removing this dis-incentive would further strengthen the economic case for reaching Final Third communities.

Hertford. 11th March 2010

Citizens and Visitors to benefit from new “broadband everywhere” WiFi service

Vtesse, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announces its intent to deploy a pilot wireless internet service in Hertford town centre in the Spring.

Covering the town centre area, the service will provide broadband internet access to those with mobile wireless devices, including Blackberry’s, iPhones, smartphones, netbooks and notebook computers.

Better still, for the pilot period, 100 users  will receive service at no charge.

The wireless service will considerably enhance the mobile user’s internet experience as they negotiate the busy high street and its adjoining shops and premises.

The popularity of mobile internet devices has soared in recent months as a new wave of intelligent devices hit the shops. However, the mobile broadband internet experience has been disappointing for many as demand for internet over the airwaves has overloaded many 3G mobile networks resulting in slow and unpredictable service.

In Hertford at least, the mobile internet users experience will be "as good as it gets" as users within Vtesse service zones will connect through Vtesse wireless hotspots directly onto Vtesse’s national fibre optic network, guaranteeing the best possible experience.

Local firm Vtesse are piloting the innovative service to assess just how much demand there is for such services and if it is as high as pundits predict, the service will be rolled out to wider areas.

Commenting, Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse said “We are really pleased to be able to pilot this new service in our home town. Giving our business people, citizens and visitors to the town such an edge puts Hertford right at the very forefront of the rapidly developing mobile internet world – which – frankly – is precisely where we should be!”

Pricing for the final service has yet to be defined and will be designed to support the usage patterns established during the pilot.

Users interested in joining the pilot service should email hertfordshire@vtesse.com in the first instance outlining how wireless broadband in the town centre would help them better achieve their personal and business goals. The best 100 applications will be invited to use the service without charge for the period of the pilot.

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Notes to editors:

1. Whilst WiFi “hotspots” are commonplace in hotels, pubs and coffee shops, there are very few towns in the UK where the whole of the town centre area has been enabled. Probably less than 10.

2. Subject to the capabilities of individual mobile devices, download and upload speeds of up to 10Mb will be possible.

3. WiFi access points will be mounted high on lamp posts to offer the widest possible coverage areas.

New broadband campaign calls for access for all

The campaign - founded by a broad range of broadband organisations and champions of wider community interests - will lobby the Government to provide adequate and effective broadband access for the “Final Third” of the UK which currently lacks this vital infrastructure. The campaign will focus on ensuring that all those in the “Final Third” will be able to access Government online services by 2012 and then to facilitate the move towards next generation access.Dr Charles Trotman of the CLA, who chaired the inaugural meeting, said: “The Government’s universal service commitment to provide broadband speeds of two megabits per second (Mbps) for all by 2012 will be hard to achieve. Those living in areas known as “the Final Third” still receive no proper access to broadband, putting them at a severe disadvantage. This campaign calls for faster action on the progress already made so that everyone can benefit from the Government’s increasing array of online services.”

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks and an active campaigner for the Final Third said "Our own pilot projects are proving to us that with appropriate government attention to fibre rates and infrastructure sharing it would be possible to deliver super-fast broadband to the majority of final third residents and businesses. We welcome the additional focus that "The Final Third First" campaign will bring to the issue. One third of the population is a very large minority indeed and must not be forsaken by policy makers."

For the full release, see www.finalthirdfirst.com

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Hertford. 23rd February 2010

Vtesse Networks, a leading supplier of high speed networking services in the United Kingdom, today welcomed the Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) Committee's report encouraging a rethink of government policy on broadband internet access.

The committee also supported government action on policy, rather than direct government investment to support broadband penetration.

Vtesse was invited to make a submission to the committee last year. The company has consistently opposed the business rating system and the lack of access for other providers to BT's ducts and poles as key impediments to the government's goal of superfast broadband for all.

Vtesse CEO Aidan Paul said the report would provide momentum to promoting speeds of at least 2mbps for all Britons.

"The Committee's stance on state investment in broadband must be applauded. The report clearly supports the role of private companies in building a truly Digital Britain. Vtesse has supported rural communities with trials to improve broadband in underserved areas and we will continue to engage with government on the best way to provide universal broadband access."

Ends....

Notes to editors

1. Vtesse Networks is a leading supplier of high speed services to large organisations. Since last year it has used its expertise in optical networking to address the provision of high speed broadband in areas that have hitherto been unable to obtain acceptable service. It is undertaking trials in Hatt and Saltash in Cornwall with Virgin Media, where it has enabled residents to improve speeds from 500kbps to between 33Mbps and 48Mbps. Vtesse is also undertaking trials in Wiltshire, Hertfordshire and further trials will be announced shortly.

2. Under the current rating system it is estimated that Vtesse pays fibre rates of between 20 and 40 times those paid by BT. Furthermore, BT does not get charged at all for additional fibre used, whereas Vtesse and other operators are charged by the kilometre. This bears particularly harshly on rural areas where the distances to reach settlements are far greater than the equivalent in urban areas.

3. In its trials in Hatt, Vtesse estimated that it would only be economic to deploy the service if it had direct access to duct or fibre from BT at equivalent terms to those that BT supplies itself.

4. The full text of Vtesse's submission to the BIS Committee is available here http://bit.ly/9vxX0j

Hertford. 15th February 2010

Vtesse, the UK’s leading provider of advanced national fibre optic networking services, today announced the deployment of new infrastructure in Hertfordshire designed to demonstrate that super-fast broadband can be viable for residents of “Final Third” communities.

The term “Final Third” was coined in the Government’s recent Digital Britain report to describe one third of the UK population who currently are, for economic reasons, unlikely ever to be able to receive super-fast broadband.

Vtesse is running the pilot in the Hertfordshire communities of Birch Green, Bramfield, Hertingfordbury and Stapleford. Whilst each is close to the county town of Hertford, they are all a considerable distance from their local telephone exchange and none currently has access to super-fast broadband.

The new services are expected to be available in late spring and early summer this year. They will commence in Hertingfordbury and will ultimately provide service for up to 500 properties across the four communities.

These services complement Vtesse Networks pilots in Cornwall and Wiltshire. The Cornish services have been running since November last year. Early feedback provides a good idea of what Hertfordshire users can expect.  People who previously endured unreliable connections and painfully slow download speeds (typically below 1 Megabit per second) now enjoy non-stop service and speeds between 33 and 48 Megabits per second.

Results from the pilot will be used by Vtesse Networks to support applications for grants from the Government’s 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment Fund, and also from the Next Generation Broadband Fund announced in the recent Pre Budget Report.

Mark Prisk, Conservative Member of Parliament for Hertford and Stortford and Shadow Minister for Business commented “Broadband is vital to local villages, so this scheme for Hertingfordbury by local firm Vtesse Networks is great news”

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks added:  “We are delighted to be able to bring super-fast broadband to communities in our home town of Hertford that may never otherwise have received them. The Government’s Digital Britain report clearly identified that one third of the population are in the same situation as those in Birch Green, Bramfield, Hertingfordbury and Stapleford.  We aim to progress the regulatory change and Government support required to support business cases that will make delivery of Vtesse Networks fast broadband possible to poorly served broadband communities everywhere.”

Anyone who would like to be considered for the Hertfordshire pilot can register interest and get further information by emailing hertfordshire@vtesse.com .

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Notes to editors:

1. Super-fast broadband is defined as more than ten times the Government’s 2012 universal service pledge speed of 2Mbps. Full screen internet TV, online movies, high definition iPlayer and similar catch-up TV services, YouTube, interactive training and video conferencing services all benefit from super-fast broadband.

2. Contrary to popular opinion, the “Final Third” of the population are not only in rural areas. There are broadband “not-spots” and “slow-spots” spread around the country, in urban as well as rural areas. The “Final Third” comprises anyone on long telephone lines outside current cable TV footprints. These residents are unlikely to be able to benefit from even the basic service promised by the 2Mbits/second 2012 universal service commitment unless something is done to address regulatory, rating and commercial issues.

Hertford 3rd February 2009

Vtesse Networks encouraged by the Conservative’s plans to facilitate pervasive deployment of super-fast broadband.

Vtesse Networks, the UK’s leading Next Generation Telecommunications provider question the Digital Britain report assertion that one third of the population (“the final third”) should be satisfied with a broadband experience of “up to 2Mbit” and have long argued that with suitable regulatory intervention, super fast broadband services could be made available to the majority.

The Conservative proposals include allowing BT’s competitors to share its under-utilised underground ducts and overground poles which would  greatly reduce the cost of fibre optic network deployment to final third communities .

The Conservatives also promise regulatory support for an accelerated deployment and Vtesse observe that were this support to include reducing business rates on 3rd party operators fibres deployed in BT ducts to the same level as that paid by BT itself, the success of the program might be further underpinned.

There will be areas, even with such intervention, where the combined effects of increased competition and regulatory intervention will still not underpin commercial deployment and in these cases Vtesse agrees that a proportion of the BBC licence fee would provide support that might find more ready consumer acceptance than current proposals.

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Note to editors: Under the current rating system it is estimated that Vtesse pays fibre rates of between 20 and 40 times those paid by BT. Furthermore, BT does not get charged at all for additional fibre used, whereas Vtesse and other operators are charged by the kilometre. This bears particularly harshly on rural areas where the distances to reach settlements are far greater than the equivalent in urban areas.

Vtesse Networks to exhibit at leading Government IT Showcase

Now in its 6^th year, Government IT is the premier event in the public IT arena.  Government IT will bring together over 350 key stakeholders and decision makers from the public sector to debate and discuss the key issues across the public sector IT agenda.  With its key speakers, excellent workshop sessions and unrivalled networking opportunities this conference is one not to be missed. 

With the Public Sector targeted to reduce spend on IT by some £3.2 billion in the Operation Efficiency report, Vtesse Networks come prepared to discuss ways that it’s innovative network services can help councils and departments address broadband not-spot, digital exclusion, regional service delivery and PSN integration challenges.

Vtesse Networks can be found at Stand 18.

To view the full programme, please visit: www.govnet.co.uk/govit10/programme

The conference is also CPD Certified meaning that attendance at this event can contribute to your Continuing Personal and Professional Development and help you meet your own targets.

Vtesse Networks are pleased to be able to offer customers and friends a 20% discount on the full price of attendance. Simply quote the reference ‘vtesse’ when booking online at www.govnet.co.uk/govit10/register

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Hertford. 16th December 2009

Trial to validate wireless fast broadband for “Final Third” residents

Vtesse Networks, the UK’s leading Next Generation Telecommunications provider, today announces its plan to deploy a super-fast fixed wireless broadband trial in rural Wiltshire. The first community to be served will be Chapel Plaister, a “Final Third” hamlet near Corsham. Further communities in the area may be added as the trial progresses.

The term “The Final Third” was coined in the Government’s recent Digital Britain report to describe the one third of the population who are, for economic reasons, unlikely ever to be able to receive broadband service above the universal service pledge of 2Mbps unless there is regulatory change and Government intervention.

The Wiltshire trial complements the project Vtesse Networks is already undertaking in Cornwall , delivering ultra-fast broadband services for Final Third residents in Upper Pill and Hatt (near Saltash) with “fibre to the cabinet” and “fibre to the home” technologies (collectively termed “FTTx”). In sparsely populated areas like rural Wiltshire, FFTx services are unlikely to be economic in the medium term even with Government support, so alternative solutions have to be found.

Vtesse Networks is trialling wireless technologies capable of bringing super-fast broadband services to the smaller rural communities that comprise the most challenging element of the Final Third.

The trials, which are scheduled to commence in early 2010, will deliver a wireless broadband experience that will significantly exceed the Government’s 2012 universal service commitment of 2Mbits/second described in the Digital Britain report, allowing the broadband challenged residents of Chapel Plaister to enjoy high quality streaming video services like YouTube HD, iPlayer and Sky Player, as well helping to extend the reach of 3G mobile services for devices like the Apple iPhone and Blackberry.

The results from the trial will be used by Vtesse Networks to support applications for funding from the Government for the 2Mbps Universal Service commitment and also from the Next Generation Broadband Fund due to be set up following the announcements made in the Pre Budget Report.Commenting on the trials, Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks said “The Government’s Digital Britain report usefully identified the problems of broadband deployment to the Final Third of the population where competition alone may not provide speeds that meet or exceed 2Mbits per second, and where investment in fast broadband infrastructure is unlikely to happen unassisted.  We aim to explore the regulatory changes and Government support required to bring equitable and competitive levels of fast broadband service to rural settlements like Chapel Plaister.”

Aidan continued “It is important that we remember that the Final Third of the population are not only in rural areas. There are broadband “not-spots” and “slow-spots” spread around the country, in urban as well as rural areas. The Final Third comprises anyone on long telephone lines outside current cable TV footprints. These residents are unlikely to be able to benefit from even the basic service promised by the 2Mbits/second universal service commitment unless something is done to address the commercial issues.”

Interested parties can register interest in the Wiltshire trial and get further information by emailing wiltshire@vtesse.com

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Notes to editors:

1.” Super-fast broadband” is a term commonly used to describe services delivering speeds up to 20Mbits per second. “Ultra-fast broadband” services generally deliver speeds up to 50Mbits per second.

2. The Digital Britain report can be found at http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/digitalbritain-finalreport-jun09.pdf

3. References to possible Government funding for next generation broadband roll out to final third communities can be found in paragraph 4.45 and 4.46 of last week’s Pre Budget Report at http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/pbr09_chapter4.pdf

4. A map of known broadband “not-spots” and “slow-spots” (Less than 2Mbit/sec) can be found at http://www.broadband-notspot.org.uk/

5. Further information on Vtesse Networks Cornish trial can be found at http://www.vtesse.com/news.asp

New data centre targets value and eco-conscious buyers

 “It’s all about value, availability, connectivity, sustainability and personal service” said John Kersley, General Manager of Vtesse Networks new co-location business.  John continues, “Our new service, VTESSE/LOCATE, focuses on a market of increasingly value conscious buyers who nevertheless rightly  demand the highest levels of service availability, communications connectivity and service”

VTESSE/LOCATE is a co-location service based in Vtesse’s newly refurbished 30,000 sq ft data centre in Hertfordshire.  The service provides n+1 power and cooling for customer equipment requiring up to a massive 30Kw per rack. The raised floor computer hall offers a secure environment for continuous processing, storage, backup and communications systems and is protected by Very Early Smoke Detection Alarms and comprehensive fire suppression systems.  Continuous AC power supplies to customer racks are protected by diesel generators in n+1 configuration backed up by Uninterrupted Power Supply arrays.

Customer racks may be installed individually, in contiguous space or in secure cages providing an additional level of access security to the security patrols, CCTV monitoring and access control systems protecting the site.

Dedicated PODs (private data centres within the main data centre) supporting customer requirements in excess of 200 racks are available to bespoke designs that reflect the Tier (2 or 3) of resilience required.

The low Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) target of 1.4 is reflected in the Vtesse electricity pricing promise ensuring that the benefits of the centre’s energy efficient design are reflected in electricity prices through all stages of the data centre’s development.

Importantly, co-location customers are offered wholesale IP transit internet connectivity as well as access to Vtesse’s national fibre network and its associated IPVPN and Ethernet services. Connectivity to other telecoms company’s IPVPN and Ethernet services is also easily accommodated in the new facility, thanks to thanks to Vtesse’s established 3rd party interconnects in leading telehotels.

The data centre is 34Km by road from London City and 51Km from London Docklands and enjoys diverse fibre connectivity to both locations making synchronous replication to London from a location outside of the M25 a practical proposition.

The Hertfordshire data centre enjoys a 5MVA diverse power supply from the National Grid and is scalable to 11MVA ensuring that customer plans for growth can be readily accommodated.

The facility is available for immediate occupancy.

… ends

Vtesse Networks present evidence on barriers to ultra-fast broadband to Parliamentary Select Committee

In the wake of the recent Digital Britain report (1), the Business, Innovation and Skills Parliamentary Select Committee sought evidence from leading UK broadband operators, including Vtesse Networks, on the practicality and achievability of the recommendations of the report. The meeting was held on the 2nd November 2009 in London.

Giving evidence, Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks, argued for the removal of artificial economic barriers to deployment of ultra-fast broadband in areas poorly served by current broadband services. Ultra-fast broadband is a basic enabler for the high quality video transmission needed by rapidly growing next generation internet services. It also enables high quality “triple play (2)” service delivery. The technologies used by Vtesse to provide ultra-fast broadband also provide a more reliable and more consistent customer experience than current services allow.

A further benefit of the ultra-fast broadband services proposed by Vtesse Networks is that customers in ALL areas of the UK would be able to enjoy similar high speeds, removing the current postcode lottery that delivers a very poor broadband experience to a third of UK residents.

The barriers to successful economic deployment are significant however and demand regulatory attention. The two areas discussed by Aidan Paul in giving evidence were the inequity of the current underground fibre optic cable business rating system and the reluctance of British Telecom to allow competitive access to its own underground fibres on the same terms that its Open Reach business provides to its own  wholesale and retail businesses.

These concerns are discussed and explained in the video transcript of the committee session that can be seen here http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Main/Player.aspx?meetingId=5033 .

Computer Weekly have published an article that impartially describes the problems created by the current fibre rating system here http://www.computerweekly.com/Articles/2009/11/04/238417/how-the-government-taxes-uks-broadband-future.htm  .

Commenting on the review by the Select Committee, Aidan Paul said “Vtesse Networks welcome the desire of the committee to understand the barriers that might prevent the vision presented in the Digital Britain report from being realised and also the wider ambition to see a consistent ultra-fast broadband experience available to all of the population irrespective of location. Understanding the issues is an important first step and we look forward to their resolution in the form of regulatory intervention and rating system reform.

Particularly, Vtesse Networks welcome the helpful comments made by Ed Vaizey, Shadow Minister for Culture, at the recent International Dark Fibre Convention.  A transcript of Ed’s speech can be seen here http://www.shadowdcms.co.uk/newsshow.aspx?ref=196 ”

…ends

 (1) http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/exsumchpt9_digitalbritain-finalreport-jun09.pdf(2) Triple Play – Voice, Video and Internet

Next generation internet and digital TV services come to Cornwall for the first time.

Vtesse Networks and Virgin Media have today announced plans for an ultra-fast broadband trial in Cornwall. The trials will provide connectivity of up to 50Mbps and be used to deliver Virgin Media’s range of “next generation” broadband and digital TV services to two rural communities well beyond the reach of the company’s existing fibre optic cable network. The trials will begin during winter 2009.

The first two areas to benefit from the trial will be Higher Pill in Saltash and Hatt, a community to the north west of the town.The trial brings together the UK’s leading provider of private optical fibre networks and the market leader in next generation digital services. The services will be delivered using cutting edge VDSL2 technology based on “fibre to the cabinet” services supplied and managed by Vtesse Networks. Additional support will be provided by members of the Babcock-led “NGN Kernow” consortium.

Jon James, executive director of broadband at Virgin Media said, “This is an important project for Virgin Media and demonstrates our ambition to extend our next generation services to areas outside our traditional cable TV footprint. As well as placing two rural communities at the vanguard of the digital revolution, the trials will provide much needed understanding of the technical and economic viability of delivering next generation access to areas that have traditionally thought to be commercially problematic”.

“We are very pleased to be running this trial with Virgin Media and NGN Kernow and we look forward to extending our coverage in Cornwall and elsewhere for the benefit of consumers, local businesses and content providers alike,” said Aidan Paul, CEO, Vtesse Networks. “Subject to the satisfactory completion of these trials and to a supportive regulatory policy, our analysis indicates that it could be feasible to roll-out similar capability to as many as  2 million further homes and small businesses in current ultra-fast ‘not-spots’ across the country.”

-- Ends --

For more information on the Cornwall trial, please email cornwall@vtesse.com telling us about your interest.

Notes to editors:

About Virgin Media

With almost 10 million customers, Virgin Media is the UK's first quad-play provider of broadband, TV, phone and mobile.The company is one of the largest residential broadband providers in the UK, using a unique fibre optic cable network to deliver next generation ultrafast internet access of up to 50Mb to just over half of all homes. Combined with a high speed ADSL service and mobile broadband products, Virgin Media is able to offer broadband internet access to virtually the entire country.

For more information, go to www.virginmedia.com.

About NGN Kernow

The “NGN Kernow” Consortium is an alliance of leading telecoms and infrastructure businesses formed with to create a telecommunications infrastructure that will help make Cornwall one of Europe’s leading places to do business. If selected, the Consortium will support regional initiatives designed to create wealth, increase employment and stimulate economic growth. The Consortium is led by Babcock International Group PLC and members include Vtesse Networks, Motorola, Surf Telecoms, Digital Peninsula Networks and South West Communications Group.

About Babcock

Babcock is a FTSE 250 company and one of the UK’s leading engineering support services organisations. For more information, go to www.babcock.co.uk

About Vtesse Networks

Vtesse Networks engage directly with clients, leading integrators and operators to deliver specialist, high performance optical networking services to a broad range of vertical markets. The company is privately funded, debt free and consistently profitable.

Noted for the last three years in the Sunday Times Tech Track 100 as being amongst the Top 100 fastest growing privately owned UK tech firms, Vtesse’s clients include some of the largest and most demanding private and public organisations in the world.

For more information, go to www.vtesse.com

Hertford, September 20th 2009

Vtesse Networks are delighted to have once again been awarded a place in the Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 published on the 20th September 2009.

Now in its ninth year, The Tech Track 100 is published in The Sunday Times and identifies innovative, high growth companies in the technology sector.

Vtesse Networks provides private optical networking services for Enterprise and Government clients, both directly to end customers and in partnership with integrators offering outsourcing services. Clients include Lloyds Banking Group, IBM, Barclays, Friends Provident, HP, HM Land Registry and Steria.

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks commented “The Tech Track 100 is a benchmark of successful companies in our sector and so it is gratifying to be included for the third successive year.  Vtesse Networks consistently strives to provide its customers and partners with optical networking services that offer the potential to really transform their businesses for the better and our message seems to be especially well received in these austere economic times. We would not have achieved this without the hard work and dedication of our staff.”

Vtesse Networks customer CLS Bank wins award for "Best Networking Project" at the annual "Financial Sector Technology" awards

March 27th 2009

At an awards ceremony last night at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London, in front of an audience of over 600 executives from the Financial Services industry, CLS Bank International (CLS) and partners Vtesse Networks and IBM were recognised for their implementation of a business continuity network that challenged and overcame seemingly intractable technical and practical issues.

The network provided by Vtesse Networks supports synchronous replication between datacentres in the UK and continental Europe that are 800Km apart for the CLS Settlement service.

CLS provides the largest multi-currency cash settlement system, eliminating settlement risk for over half the world’s foreign exchange payment instructions with an average daily value of $3 trillion. It needs to be able to withstand any form of regional disaster and be able to resume its service from another location in another region, within 2 hours.. The new design facilitates recovery within 30 minutes and has enabled CLS to move from a 3 datacentre solution to 2.

Sean Daly, CLS Programme Manager explains "The programme teams delivered the main requirement of the challenge — to return CLS to a fully synchronous service whilst achieving a regionally resilient data centre model. After suffering a regional disaster, we can still guarantee no data loss"

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse Networks adds "This was a remarkable project that challenged the traditional perception that synchronous replication cannot be achieved over distances of more than 120Km. CLS and Vtesse Networks worked very closely with IBM’s PPRC Labs to develop and prototype a combination of application and network design that allowed synchronous replication over these greatly extended distances. Vtesse guarantee service level availability and latency targets for the private diverse optical network that support the CLS settlement applications"

The network service has been live since 2006

.----ends

Vtesse amongst the first companies in the UK to receive certification to new standard

Hertford. March 9th 2009

Vtesse Networks, the leading optical networking infrastructure provider, today announced that BABT, an official accreditation body for ISO 9001 standards, granted Vtesse ISO 9001:2008 certification. The new version of the standard, ratified in November 2008 formally validates Vtesse's continued commitment to provide world class customer service by implementing a systematic and quantifiable approach to service design, implementation and management underpinned by a rigorous auditing process.

"Being amongst the first to be certified to the latest iteration of the standard underpins our commitment to keep our Quality Management Systems at the leading edge of best practice," said Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse. "The quality management system we have implemented provides reassurance to our customers that we will continue our long tradition of designing, implementing and managing optical networking services that reliably meet our customer’s high expectations."

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Vtesse Networks will be sponsoring IDC’s annual Enterprise Datacentre Conference on May 14th at the Russell Hotel, Russell Square, London, WC1B 5BE. 

The event is designed for senior IT, facilities and operations executives seeking practical tools and strategies for transforming their datacentres. Topics include: 

Vtesse Networks has once again been honoured with a place in the prestigious Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 published on 28th September 2008. According to the Fast Track research team Vtesse achieved number 25 in the National league table of the fastest growing private tech firms by recording a compound annual growth rate of 94% in the period from 2004 - 2007.

Vtesse was further noted as the sixth fastest growing technology company based in the South East of England. Vtesse Networks, a registered communications provider, specialises in providing transformational optical networking services for some of the largest and most demanding organisations in the UK.

Vtesse services embrace data centre connectivity and core networking infrastructure providing a foundation for consolidation, convergence, and broadband aggregation projects.

This year’s Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100 offers a snapshot of some of Britain’s best performing private technology companies at a pivotal moment in the economic cycle. The eighth annual list of high growth rising stars highlights some of the exciting ventures that have been transforming our leisure time and reshaping the way the nation does business. Commenting upon their second successive entry into the league table Aidan Paul Chief Executive said "It's great to see the hard work of the team recognised in this way once again. Vtesse's achievements are in no small part due to the skills, enthusiasm and customer focussed attitude of our people without whom this kind of progress would just not have been possible. In these challenging economic times our ability to help large oranisations make the transition to more cost effective and more capable converged private optical networking services will help to ensure their ongoing success - and ours. "

...ends

Vtesse customer Lloyds TSB has won the Infrastructure Strategy category of the Retail Banking Technology Awards presented by leading financial services journal The Banker.

Commenting on the award, Aidan Paul, CEO of Vtesse networks said "It is good to see the efforts of the combined Lloyds TSB, IBM and Vtesse team on this visionary project recognised in this way. This was a true team effort and the end result clearly demonstrates the advantage that organisations who become Vtesse Optically Enabled Enterprises can gain in a competitive market."

The Banker described the award like this:

INFRASTRUCTURE STRATEGY

Winner: Lloyds TSBProject: Lloyds TSB Voice and Data Initiative

Network capacity is becoming a growing concern for the global business community, for whom high-speed, international communication and information sharing is vital. Limitations in a bank’s network capacity, as Lloyds TSB discovered, can inhibit business agility and change.

Rather than turning to a traditional telecoms operator to solve its networking problems, Lloyds TSB partnered with IBM, who subsequently played the role of systems integrator, bringing together the most cost-efficient technologies from a number of suppliers, in order to build a network specifically for Lloyds TSB. During the project, a fibre optic core was designed and built by Vtesse which – due to the bank’s exclusive use of the fibres – is able to provide almost limitless bandwidth to critical Lloyds TSB sites.

For Lloyds TSB, the new network serves as a crucial platform by which the bank is now able to fully exploit modern applications. Now, the network is no longer the inhibitor, but an enabler for business change, representing an impressive, cost-effective infrastructural triumph for the bank.

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Vtesse Networks announce national “Vtesse Virtual Dark Fibre” service22nd May 2008 Hertford, UK.

Vtesse greatly simplify deployment of long distance optical network services

Vtesse Networks today announced the availability of its new national “Vtesse Virtual Dark Fibre” service at IDC’s annual Enterprise Datacentre Conference in London.

The new service provides a cost effective alternative to dedicated long distance dark fibre pairs between geographically dispersed data centres and significantly reduces the complexity of planning and implementing Gigabit and Terabit level regional and national connectivity for business critical business applications.

Designed to appeal to large enterprises and government agencies as a means of providing the multi gigabit levels of bandwidth needed to replicate storage and synchronise processing between data centres, the new Vtesse service provides a foundation for the latest 10 and 40 Gigabit transmission technologies as well as emerging 100 Gigabit systems.

The service is based on Vtesse’s own national fibre network, now one of the largest in the UK. Using purely optical technologies, the service can be presented at customer premises throughout the UK. It allows users to directly interface their own electronic networking equipment to the service and it is capable of supporting any protocol at any level of bandwidth. For example, an Enterprise customer might use the service between datacentres to provide multiple channels of 10 Gigabit Ethernet and 8 Gigabit Fibre Channel.  A systems integrator might use the service to augment their own private networks to provide backbone 40 Gigabit services between Gloucester, Plymouth and Rugby.

Last mile connectivity is provided using dedicated dark fibre pairs using network routes designed to support the service levels required by each customer.To the customer’s equipment, the long distance Vtesse Virtual Dark Fibre service behaves like a medium distance pair of dark fibres.

The benefits are fivefold:

Firstly, the deployment of long distance private optical networking services is now greatly simplified as the majority of the routes have been pre-built, offsetting the time taken to build dedicated services and thus reduces time taken to deploy new services.

Secondly, by using specialist optical technologies, Vtesse are able to virtually “slice” the fibres it operates on these long distance routes into individual dedicated “channels”, allowing each fibre pair to carry many individual customers services, each offering similar capability to a pair of dark fibres. This reduces cost compared to a dedicated pair of fibres.

Thirdly, as Vtesse optically amplifies the signals approximately every 80Km in its own premises along each route, the customer is spared the (high) cost of providing and maintaining their own amplifiers as well as the cost of the premises required to locate them. Fourthly, the customer only has to bear an equitable share of the government rates levied on dedicated pairs of optical fibres along the route – which can be a significant burden over long distances (see notes).

Lastly, the topography of the Vtesse national fibre network allows for complete route diversity to all locations, enabling the five nines availability demanded by many enterprise customers.

Aidan Paul, Chief Executive of Vtesse comments “Our new virtual dark fibre service can seriously reduce the cost and complexity of planning and deploying long distance, high bandwidth connectivity.  It can also improve service provisioning time. The Vtesse Virtual Dark Fibre service may well enable projects that have historically been shelved on budgetary grounds to resurface once again.”

The new service has been deployed in a high availability diversely connected configuration supporting multiple gigabit Ethernet, SDH, Fibre Channel and Ficon wavelengths for tape backup and both synchronous and asynchronous storage replication as well as for inter processor synchronisation at a leading UK retail bank.

….ends

Note to editors:

The Vtesse service is based upon passive optical components which greatly improves service reliability.  It differs from typical Gigabit services offered by network operators on long distance routes, which are normally based upon multiplexed optical wavelengths, in that the Vtesse service offers unconstrained optical capacity between customer premises. The Vtesse service can offer a lower total cost of ownership than a pair of dark fibres on route distances of 50Km or more. The longer the route distance, the more pronounced the savings will be.  Vtesse Virtual Dark Fibre does not bear comparison with the limited bandwidth services offered by a managed wavelength providers.

Note on dark fibre rateable values: Business rates are payable on each pair of lit fibres in the ground. A budgetary average of £250 per route kilometre per annum is prudent.

Milpitas, CA / Hertford, UK, May 12, 2008 -- OpVista, Inc., a leading manufacturer of high performance packet optical networking systems, and Vtesse Networks, a leading provider of private optical networks for Fortune 500 & FTSE 100 enterprises in the UK, today announced that Vtesse has successfully completed a 40G trial deployment of OpVista’s Dense Multi-Carrier DMC technology.  As part of a strategic initiative to deliver new bandwidth services cost effectively, Vtesse deployed a DMC-generated 40G wavelength over an 860 km 534 mile link on an in-service 10G-engineered optical network.

This trial demonstrates DMC technology’s ability to enable service providers like Vtesse to incrementally upgrade their optical transport network capacity to support the growing crush of corporate storage and consumer driven video services without costly network re-engineering.  Announced today, DMC technology combines advanced multiple carrier photonics, lambda stabilization, and multi-level modulation to deliver 40G and 100G bandwidth per wavelength, while maintaining compatibility with the characteristics of today’s 10G optical infrastructure.

“As the leading specialist optical networking service provider to many of the UK’s largest and most effective organizations, it is essential that we give our enterprise customers the ability to exploit the very latest in optical networking technologies to deliver continuous gigabit and terabit level connectivity affordably, reliably and securely,” said Aidan Paul, Chief Executive Officer, Vtesse Networks.  “Based on this trial, I can easily see how Vtesse can cost effectively maintain its industry leading network performance and meet existing customer demand for 40G services using OpVista’s DMC-based system products.  We are extremely impressed by OpVista’s DMC technology and its ability to overlay new high-speed services on our existing infrastructure without any dispersion impairments.”

“Vtesse has a well earned reputation for operating one of the most advanced, high performance optical networks in Europe.  This trial demonstrates how simple it is to use DMC technology enabled solutions to expand the service carrying capacity of existing 10G networks,” said Karl May, President and Chief Executive Officer, OpVista.  “DMC technology gives service providers the capacity they need to deliver new, bandwidth-intensive services without requiring investment in re-building their installed 10G optical networks.  With DMC technology, service providers worldwide can finally break free from the traditional cycle of major capital investments and “fork lift” upgrades to enable new revenue-generating services.”

....ends

On May 22nd at the Russell Hotel, Russell Square, London, WC1B 5BE.  Vtesse Networks will be sponsoring IDC’s annual Enterprise Datacentre Conference. The event is designed for senior IT, facilities and operations executives seeking practical tools and strategies for transforming their datacentre to meet the needs of the changing business climate. The conference will examine current hot topics, including:• Untangling Virtualisation - Myths and Realities • Working Towards a Carbon Neutral Environment • The Next Generation Datacentre - Networks, Infrastructure and Systems

As the leading specialist optical networking service provider to many of the UK’s largest and most effective organisations, Vtesse Networks will illustrate through case studies howenterprise companies can exploit the very latest in optical networking technologies to deliver continuous gigabit and terabit level connectivity, affordably, reliably and securely between multiple datacentres.

As a sponsor of this event, Vtesse Networks are able to offer end users free of charge attendance to this conference. To register, visit the IDC website www.idc.com/uk/datacentre08 and enter‘Vtesse Guest’ in the promotional code box.

Vtesse Networks, has been named Britain’s 22nd fastest growing technology company in The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100, published on 30th September 2007.  Vtesse’s inclusion in this prestigious list comes after the company has seen it revenues rise from £2.4 million in 2004 to £17.3 million in 2006; equivalent to 171% annual growth. 

The British tech industry is booming at the moment so it’s a tremendous honour to be named one of the country’s fastest growing companies,” said Aidan Paul, founder and CEO, Vtesse Networks.  “All credit goes to our staff; without their expertise and commitment, we’d never be able to design and deliver advanced communications networks to match the very exacting requirements of some of the UK’s largest brands.”

According to The Sunday Times Microsoft Tech Track 100, Vtesse is the fifth fastest growing technology company based in the South East of England.

1st May 2007, Hertford, UK

Vtesse Networks www.vtesse.com today announced that it’s private Enterprise Optical Networking Designs are now capable of incorporating the latest implementations of the industry standard specification G.709, commonly called Optical Transport Network OTN across 2.7 OTU1, 10.7 OTU2 and  43 OTU3 Gigabit optical channels.

OTN is a next-generation, industry-standard protocol providing an efficient and interoperable way to multiplex services onto optical light paths allowing different traffic types—including Ethernet, Fibre Channel, IP, GFP, digital video, as well as SONET/SDH to be multiplexed into a single Optical Transport Unit OTU frame. The technology overcomes one of the fundamental limitations of traditional Wave Division Multiplexing systems which cause individual wavelengths to be dedicated to individual protocols, often leading to sub-optimal utilisation of capacity, particularly in multi-protocol private Enterprise networks.

OTN also provides more effective optical network management.  Since the protocol allows for full performance-monitoring of all the multi-service traffic mentioned above, it is ideal for carrying the Fibre Channel and 10 Gigabit Ethernet traffic now commonly demanded by users of private optical networks.

Vtesse offers OTN capability on all of its Enterprise Optical Network designs.

This was the question up for discussion at this year’s IT Directors Strategy meeting.  Held at the Portman Hotel in the West End, the conference brought together IT professionals from a wide range of blue chip and public organisations, all aiming to gain further insight into industry developments which will shape the future of their businesses.

High on the agenda was Optical Networking and the conference was delighted to welcome Vtesse Networks CEO Aidan Paul as key note speaker on the subject.

As head of the company that delivers Optical Networking services to some of the largest and most demanding organisations in the world, Aidan provided an expert perspective on the reality of Optical Networking.

Focusing on the continual demand for growth and change and the need to develop networks that support transformation without compromising bandwidth, availability, security and budgetary constraints, Aidan outlined why the world’s leading organisations are transitioning to the Optical Network.

Using examples of existing FTSE100 clients, Aidan talked through the features of the Optical Network: virtually unlimited bandwidth, exceptionally high service levels, security, scalability and viability.

Delegates at the conference were quick to recognise how these features could be successfully applied to their own organisations, providing an adaptive platform for continuous operation, distributed storage, consolidated servers, legacy and modern application designs and secure service delivery.

For a copy of Aidan’s Key Note presentation, please contact us

As more and more large companies recognise the benefits of the Private Optical Network, Vtesse Networks is staying ahead of the game by building on their team of technical and commercial specialists. A team trusted by some of the largest and most demanding organisations in the world.

Sales and Marketing Director at Vtesse, David Grant says “Our client base is growing at an incredible pace as companies realise that the Private Optical Network is the way forward for high quality unlimited bandwidth, continual availability, guaranteed security and scalability. Key to our success at Vtesse is our people, whose expertise enables us to deliver a unique combination of world class design, delivery and support services. We’re committed to developing and growing our team to meet the exacting requirements of our clients and to maintain the exceptional service levels for which we are renowned”

Joining the team at Vtesse are Account Managers Phil French and Neil Ferguson, Channel Development Manager Gareth Lovell, NOC Manager Phil Paine, Senior NOC Engineer Tunde Oyenekan and Junior NOC Engineer Harvey Shergill.