By Interoute

Jim Kinsella, Chairman at Interoute, owner operator of Europe’s largest next-generation network, commented:

“The consolidation momentum in the telecom sector is increasing. The Level 3 purchase of Global Crossing adds to more than a dozen transactions that have taken place in the last 18 months in the network infrastructure providers market.

“There seem to be two primary reasons for the acceleration in deal activity. First, bandwidth usage is spiralling – from computer desktops to mobile phones – and the operators are working hard to keep up with the demand. Companies that provide that bandwidth are experiencing record growth in IP traffic and the bandwidth that supports it.

“Second, enterprises are relying more heavily than ever on infrastructure companies to provide the physical network upon which their cloud services can operate. The cloud is effectively allowing organisations to manage large parts of their IT more cheaply and far more effectively.

“The market is waking up to the value network infrastructure providers add to modern business communications: we literally hold up the cloud. Ultimately, whoever controls the infrastructure controls the Cloud.”