Communication

SSE Enterprise Telecoms, brightsolid and Tampnet join forces to offer unprecedented network speed and bandwidth in Aberdeen and beyond

Aberdeen data centre to be connected to 100Gb network for next-gen connectivity project

SSE Enterprise Telecoms – the UK’s leading provider of network infrastructure and data centre services, and part of the SSE Group – today announced an exciting new venture with partners brightsolid, the cloud hosting and data centre service provider, and Tampnet, the offshore network operator. SSE Enterprise Telecoms will install a new, state-of-art Ciena platform which connects brightsolid’s new Aberdeen data centre to its 100Gb UK-wide network and will allow it the bandwidth and speed to service the growing oil and gas industry within Aberdeen. With Tampnet, this connectivity also has the potential to extend to off-shore facilities in the North Sea.

With a raft of oil and gas and other commercial companies choosing to locate themselves in Europe’s energy capital, it’s paramount that the carrier-neutral brightsolid data centre can offer a resilient network with unrivalled speed and bandwidth that extends the reach of Aberdeen. SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ engineering heritage and its trusted relationship with brightsolid means that prospective businesses looking to operate out of Aberdeen will benefit from the new Ciena platform which will deliver the speed, low latency and bandwidth promised. The UK-wide high-speed links combined with the energy efficiency of brightsolid’s Aberdeen data centre make it a viable alternative for businesses no matter where in the country they are physically located.

“brightsolid will deliver a world class data centre to customers in Aberdeen, one that has state-of-the-art connectivity across the UK and offshore thanks to Tampnet,” said Richard Higgs, CEO of brightsolid. “Our mission is to deliver technical innovation with a personal service, and together with SSE Enterprise Telecoms’ shared ethos, the communications service we are delivering will be world class; somewhere that can facilitate the growing trend to migrate assets to the cloud without concern for capacity, security or speed.”

For Aberdeen, the partnership between these three companies – which are at the heart of the data and telecoms industry – will have long-lasting benefits, far beyond connectivity. Councillor George Adam, Lord Provost of Aberdeen, recently said at the Transform Digital: Aberdeen Conference that for every £1 invested in IT and tech in Aberdeen it generates £20. With £1 million having been invested by SSE Enterprise Telecoms and £5 million from brightsolid, this project has the potential to generate £120 million worth of growth for the future of Aberdeen. What’s more, this is only the first stage of a phased investment plan, which aims to elevate the city to a vital hub of technical innovation and communications excellence, which will allow both businesses and the local community to flourish.

“The partnership between ourselves, brightsolid and Tampnet will provide huge advantages for Aberdeen and the oil and gas industry from the moment the data centre opens its doors,” said Colin Sempill, managing director at SSE Enterprise Telecoms. “brightsolid will act as a critical data centre hub, and our ultra-resilient network will provide the roads to and from it, made more significant by the co-operation of Tampnet, which extends this connectivity even further afield. We are committed to investing in the future of UK telecommunications and this latest project will serve to get customers connected quicker, to a reliable network, that will serve demand both now and in the future.”

“The future of the oil and gas industry will shape businesses and consumers alike; making reliable and flexible connectivity absolutely essential,” said Trygves Hagevik, sales director at Tampnet. “It’s not enough, however, to just have good connectivity off-shore or onshore. These need to link together and be able to do so quickly. This is what our latest partnership with brightsolid and SSE Enterprise Telecoms will deliver; ensuring our customers have a guaranteed level of service across the UK. After all, you’re only as reliable as your weakest link.”