A BUSINESS telecoms provider co-owned by Scottish energy giant SSE has been chosen to supply a new ‘dark fibre’ network for the north’s universities.
The contract has been awarded by Jisc, which supplies digital network services to the research and third-level education sectors.
Neos said the replacement network will offer a high-capacity fibre connection of up to 100Gbps, linking Jisc data centres in Britain, the north and Dublin.
The telecoms company, formerly known as SSE Enterprise Telecoms, is co-owned by Infracapital, the infrastructure equity investment arm of M&G Prudential, which bought a 50 per cent stake in 2018 for £380m.
Neos Networks said the new gigabit-capable dark fibre network will benefit from “improved resilience” due to two separate back-up routes to Britain via submarine cables to the company’s unbundled exchanges in Glasgow and Southport.
Deployment of the new network is now underway as part of the initial seven-year contract.
Sarah Mills from Neos Networks, said: “This latest contract win is another significant milestone.
“The new network will deliver operational efficiencies for Jisc and enable it to continue to improve the services it offers to its members in the education and research arena.”
