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If operators build them, customers will come. That’s the conventional wisdom concerning Europe’s international fiber backbones. The under-construction signs are still in the way, but corporate networkers know that lower prices, big improvements in service, faster provisioning of circuits, and next-generation apps like Internet voice and video are all in the offing. But are the backbones themselves still a long way off? While at least 10 operators are rolling out fiber backbones spanning several countries, only a handful of those networks are operational. On top of that, those that are up and running extend only to a limited number of cities. A separate but equally troubling problem: Some operators have no intention of selling bandwidth to corporate customers at all; instead, they’re planning to act as wholesalers, peddling pipe only to other carriers.
Network architects who sense it’s time to retrench would be wise to trust their instincts. “It’s time for network managers to realize that infrastructure is now a commodity and adjust their strategy accordingly,” says Phil Barton, chairman of the European VPN Users Association (London), a group of about 60 multinational corporations that collectively negotiate contracts with telecom operators. The first step? Find out which players offer what—and how they match up in terms of coverage and services. Also take a close look at who owns the fiber—in the backbone and access net alike—since that can have an effect on value for the money and reliability. Speaking of reliability, check whether carriers have built their backbones with sufficient redundancy. And don’t expect any extras in terms of customer service, since operators are probably expending their energy on the basics—like setting up their organizations. Barton has this bit of advice: Go with these new operators for bargain-rate bandwidth at larger sites, but stick to traditional carriers for connecting smaller sites that might not have in-house tech help.
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BUILD YOUR OWN CUSTOM TABLE
Table 1: Europe's Backbone Builders
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Boning Up
Europe’s new breed of backbone operators basically fall into one of three categories. One group consists of carriers whose efforts to expand their business have been stymied by the high prices Europe’s PTTs charge for cross-border bandwidth. By building their own backbones, they hope not only to circumvent this problem—but in some cases also develop a profitable side line selling spare capacity to other operators. British Telecommunications PLC (BT, London), Cable & Wireless PLC (London), Esprit Telecom Group PLC (Reading, U.K.), Facilicom International Inc. (Washington, D.C.), MCI Worldcom International (London), and Viatel Inc. (New York) belong to this group (see Table 1).
The second group consists of start-ups: Carrier 1 International S.A. (Zurich, Switzerland), which was founded by some ex-managers of Unisource N.V. (Hoofddorp, the Netherlands); Flute Ltd. (Cambridge, U.K.), which was started by the founders of Pipex, an ISP (Internet service provider) bought by Uunet Technologies Inc. (Fairfax, Va.); and Global Crossing Ltd. (Beverly Hills, Calif.), which is building a string of subsea cables linking Europe to the Asia-Pacific via the U.S. and Central America and recently announced a US$700 million project to build what it calls a pan-European crossing. In the third group are Hermes Europe Railtel B.V. (Brussels, Belgium) and Racal Telecommunications, Ltd. (Reading U.K.). Hermes began as a consortium of European railway companies, but the majority of its shares are now owned by Global Telesystems Group (GTS, Vienna, Va.), which holds shares in telecom operators all over the world. Racal is part of Racal Electronics PLC (Bracknell, U.K.).
That’s the current roster, but there are other potential players in the wings. France Telecom S.A. (Paris) and Deutsche Telekom AG (Bonn, Germany), for instance, have announced a European backbone network that will link 18 countries by 2000 (the scheme has yet to receive regulatory approval). New U.S. carriers IXC Communications Inc. (Austin, Texas), Level 3 Communications Inc. (Omaha, Neb.), and Qwest Communications Corp. (Denver) also are considering construction of European backbones. And CTR Group Ltd. (Woodcliff Lake, N.J.) is planning Project Oxygen, a global fiber backbone it says will link 98 points in 77 countries; rollout is scheduled for 2000.
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