Telecom giants announce new fibre deal to develop London’s infrastructure
Three of the UK's largest telecom giants have announced a new agreement to develop London's fibre access, improving the capital's communication infrastructure.
SSE Enterprise Telecoms (SSE), Three UK and Telefonica UK (O2) will engage in further fibre rollouts, extending SSE's fibre ring in central London through the capital's sewer system.
The partnership could also significantly enhance Three UK and O2’s connectivity backhaul capabilities and pave the way for further 4G and 5G deployment by connecting cell sites and masts.
The move comes as companies forecast 5G significantly influencing consuming services from medical devices, home entertainment devices, smartphones and automobiles. There is also expected to a massive increase in data usage: according to Ofcom, with UK data usage set to grow thirteen-fold between 2017 and 2025.
Read more: City leads London full fibre rollout league table
“Networks will fundamentally underpin the UK’s digital economy and will be essential to 5G services,” said Colin Sempill, managing director of SSE Enterprise Telecoms.
Brendan O’Reilly, chief technology officer of O2, added that the focus of this move was increasing the capabilities of the network for customers.
“This kind of agreement is essential to allow for continued investment and improvement of services for our customers,” he said.