DARK FIBRE

FLEXIBLE INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT MISSION CRITICAL NETWORKS

FUTUREPROOF, SCALABLE NETWORKING

As IT continues to converge on the data centre and bandwidth requirements increase, the demands on your network continue to grow. To meet this demand, many organisations are now choosing to integrate Dark Fibre into their network topology. A Dark Fibre network from Colt provides reliable and secure optical infrastructure to enable you to self-manage critical elements of your network. Dark Fibre provides your business with maximum levels of flexibility and control to support virtually unlimited bandwidth increases – at a time and pace to suit you.

NETWORK DESIGN AGILITY

From simple, metro point-to-point fibre pairs, to complex bespoke longhaul services – Colt is able to create a physical network designed to address the needs of your business. Experience gained in operating fibre optic networks for more than 25 years has given us the expertise to design, build and manage mission-critical Dark Fibre networks for many of the world’s leading organisations. Our customers enjoy access to our unique and geographically diverse network resources – providing unrivalled potential for future network expansion. We understand the importance of geographic route diversity, and our design consultants are able to create diverse fibre ring topologies – or offer assured route diversity from other carriers.

DARK FIBRE MONITORING

Colt also offers the option of dark fibre monitoring, which is an additional service utilizing out of band monitoring equipment to proactively notify customers of faults on their dark fibre services. This non-intrusive monitoring means any degradation or break can be identified and advised to the customer without the need for on-site testing. Our 24/7 contact centre will then engage and dispatch engineers to identify, resolve, and restore the circuit as quickly as possible. This additional service can add peace of mind to managing multiple fibres in our metro regions.

NETWORK TRANSFORMATION – COLT PRIVATE WAVE

Operating a network based on Dark Fibre network can be operationally complex. Colt can help ease network transformation initiatives by providing managed DWDM solutions for individual Dark Fibre segments where required. Colt Private Wave services are based on the same dedicated and secure Dark Fibre – but with the added benefit of Colt’s 24/7 service management and maintenance expertise for your optical transmission equipment. We’re able to integrate both Services to provide maximum levels of flexibility.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Our metro Single Mode Fibre (SMF) is 100% ITU G.652 compliant, and our longhaul fibre is compliant to ITU G.655 (LEAF). In Asia, we are able to provide G.653 fibre. Colt performs characterisation for all Dark Fibre network segments using OTDR (Optical Time-Domain Reflectometer) equipment – results are available on request. Chromatic Dispersion and Polarisation Mode Dispersion (CD/PMD) testing for longhaul fibre is available on request (additional charges may apply). Splicing is kept to a minimum, and fusion splicing is used in all cases. Colt routinely re-splices up to three times to achieve desirable levels of attenuation.

BENEFITS

• UNPRECEDENTED REACH

  Colt has Dark Fibre available to more than 32,000 buildings – including direct fibre connectivity to over 1100 data centres in Europe and Asia – more than any other carrier.

• ULTIMATE FLEXIBILITY

  Dark Fibre solutions give you the freedom to deploy and manage the technology of your choice, and give you complete control over configuration.

• PRIVACY AND SECURITY

  Your network is physically dedicated to your business, and is not shared at any point. This provides you with ultimate peace of mind and can help demonstrate regulatory compliance – your network is 100% private.

• DIVERSITY

  We understand the importance of network route diversity – our business is to protect your business. We will work with you to design a Dark Fibre network which is geographically diverse from other routes you may currently use, or provide a secondary diverse path.

• EXTENSIVE, WHOLLY OWNED FIBRE FOOTPRINT

  Colt’s services are provided on our own fibre end-to-end, providing you with the best possible SLA.