Vodafone launch Express Capacity to speed up provision of 100G or 400G links

Mobile and broadband provider Vodafone Business has launched a new service called Express Capacity, which aims to speed up the provision times of either 100G or 400G transport (data) links across selected strategic European routes to large enterprises, such as data centres, telecoms operators and large businesses etc.

However, provisioning such links can be a slow process, although the new Express Capacity service aims to change that by delivering these high-capacity optical fibre connections within just 15 days, subject to standard provisioning and testing; that’s roughly in the same ballpark as how long it takes to provision a lot of new consumer FTTP broadband lines.

Express Capacity will initially provide high-capacity connectivity across “pre-lit routes linking key digital infrastructure hubs“, such as those in London, Paris, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Marseille and Milan. These strategically pre-provisioned routes operate between major carrier-neutral data centres along some of Europe’s most widely used connectivity corridors.

However, Vodafone Business said they intend to expand the reach of Express Capacity throughout this year and into next, gradually reaching beyond traditional hubs and into regions offering renewable energy and strong international connectivity.

The service footprint also links key cable landing stations and Vodafone’s core network, which should strengthen access to international subsea cable systems. These include the transatlantic Apollo cable linking the UK and the US, Amitié (linking UK, France and the US), Europe India Gateway (connecting 12 countries across 3 continents) and SEA-ME-WE 5 (Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Western Europe) etc.

Oscar Monteagudo, Carrier Sales and Subsea Business Director, Vodafone Business, said:

“The challenge is no longer only capacity, but capacity in the right place, available at the right time. Our customers are operating in an environment where infrastructure decisions need to happen faster.

Express Capacity has been designed to remove barriers to growth by providing rapid access to scalable, high-capacity connectivity, backed by Vodafone’s extensive European network footprint and carrier expertise.”

So far as we can tell the new service is making greater use of automation – particularly across service build, testing and configuration – to help in its provisioning improvements.