GTT Invests in 400G Upgrade of Global IP Network

GTT Communications, Inc., a global cloud networking provider to multinational clients, has announced the company is investing in a 400G upgrade to its global Tier 1 IP network.

The upgrade addresses the continued double-digit increase in IP traffic and will result in improved scalability and higher-capacity options for GTT’s suite of enhanced internet and WAN services.

The phased rollout will begin with global metropolitan city locations in the initial phase, eventually spanning GTT’s core IP switching and routing fabric connecting more than 260 cities on six continents. The initial phase of deployment is expected to complete in the second half of 2023.

The network augmentation to 400G will be implemented at multiple network layers that include the core IP backbone and metro extensions as well as customer service nodes where demand dictates. GTT is deploying state-of-the-art IP networking technology provided by Juniper Networks, which can scale up and down for optimized WAN performance and enhanced efficiency across the core IP backbone. The global IP network upgrade includes telemetry functionality that enables the network to scale higher and converge faster, providing better performance and greater flexibility to run cloud applications.

“The scalability and performance advantages of GTT’s global Tier 1 IP network is a cornerstone to what makes GTT stand out from the other managed network service providers,” commented Don MacNeil, GTT COO. “This comprehensive network upgrade to 400G demonstrates our commitment to providing customers with the most advanced internet networking platform so that they can realize maximum business benefits from managed SD-WAN as well as the full array of enhanced internet services that GTT offers, and it is among a number of key initiatives on our transformation roadmap that leverage the latest AI and digital technologies.”

GTT’s global Tier 1 IP backbone is ranked among the largest in the industry and operates with more than 240Tbps of core capacity. Approximately 70 percent of GTT customer IP traffic remains on-net from edge to edge which provides enhanced control and security. The network is designed to route traffic on the shortest path possible, delivering low-latency performance and reliability. GTT was among the first large-scale Tier 1 internet service providers to implement RPKI, a route validation filtering technique for BGP sessions that ensures superior IP routing security.

Industry research firm TeleGeography reports that 71 percent of operators increased their purchases of IP transit in 2021, and the firm estimates that international peak internet traffic nearly doubled between 2019 and 2021.