Zayo Boosts Global Network Infra, Increases Capacity

Zayo Group Holdings, Inc., a global communications infrastructure platform, has announced its latest series of infrastructure investments to extend global capacity to support rapidly increasing bandwidth demand—including deployment of 400G across the globe, long-haul capacity growth, and enhancements to its global IP infrastructure.

“Next-generation technology is being deployed at never-before-seen rates. This has placed the communications infrastructure industry at a unique inflection point as all digital businesses—enterprises, carriers and hyperscalers alike—scramble to ensure they have enough capacity to support these technologies,” said Bill Long, Chief Product Officer at Zayo. “As this trend plays out, it will be a strong tailwind for those providers who can capitalize on the moment. As one of the newest and most modern networks on the market, Zayo is uniquely positioned to support this growing demand for global bandwidth.”

Deploying 400G Globally

For today’s digital businesses, 400G is essential to ensure the speed and scalability to support increasingly complex and data-intensive applications.

Zayo recently completed upgrades of its European network to be fully 400G enabled, with plans for its Tier-1 backbone in North America to be fully 400G enabled by the end of 2024.

In Q3, Zayo added nine new 400G enabled routes to its North American network to provide high-bandwidth options between key cities, including:

Atlanta to DC

Denver to Dallas (Direct)

Montreal to Quebec City

Clinton to Ponchatoula

Indianapolis to Columbus

Ashburn to Baltimore

Bend to Umatilla

Laurel to Denver

Additional 400G routes in progress include:

Houston to New Orleans

St. Louis to Chicago

Buffalo to Albany

Winnipeg to Toronto

Toronto to Montreal

Buffalo to Toronto

Columbus to Ashburn

Cleveland to Buffalo

Houston to Ponchatoula

Umatilla to Quincy

What this means: The enablement of Zayo’s global network with 400G will allow customers to continue scaling their bandwidth with Zayo on existing routes, opening up high-capacity access on new routes, improving network stability and providing an overall better customer experience through quicker delivery and optimal routing. The enhanced capacity from these routes will support customers that have exponential growth needs driven by emerging technologies such as 5G, cloud adoption, IoT, AI, edge computing, and automation.

Expanding Global Low-Latency Network

Zayo has also been working to expand capacity in other key economic centers across the globe. In October 2022, Zayo announced its global low-latency route connecting the U.S. to South America’s financial hub of Sao Paulo. In Q3 2023, the company completed expansions to its connectivity infrastructure in Sao Paulo including a new key terrestrial route that will provide connectivity throughout the metro ring and to four key data centers.

New Sao Paulo Points of Presence (PoPs):

Alameda Araguaia, 3641, Alphaville, Barueri, SP, 06455 000, Brazil

Av. Marcos Penteado de Ulhoa Rodrigues, 249, Santana de Parnaiba, SP, 06543 001, Brazil

Avenida Ceci, 1900, Tambore, Barueri, SP, 06460 120, Brazil

Rua Ricardo Prudente de Aquino, 85 Santan de Parnaiba, Brazil

What this means: As Latin America’s center of innovation and commerce, São Paulo has seen an increased demand for connectivity from the U.S. To meet the growing needs of customers, Zayo is establishing diverse, high-bandwidth connectivity from its first-class North American fiber network directly into the largest economic center in the Southern Hemisphere.

IP Infrastructure Growth

IP demand continues to be a driver for capacity increases. Zayo continues to bolster its IP infrastructure with new PoPs in key markets and data centers across the globe. Zayo added eight new IP PoPs to its North American network in Q3, including:

45 Parliament St, Toronto, ON

250 Williams St NW, Atlanta, GA

6477 W Wells Park Rd, Salt Lake City, UT

2335 S Ellis St, Chandler, AZ

375 Pearl St, New York, NY

626 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

431 Horner Ave, Etobicoke, ON

1100 White St SW, Atlanta, GA

Zayo's IP backbone, which runs on Zayo's wholly-owned fiber infrastructure, makes up nearly 10% of the world's Internet capacity. Zayo currently manages 96Tb of core capacity and 34TB of peering capacity, and adds 1-2Tb of peering capacity every quarter.

Upgrading Long-Haul Capacity

As one of the other providers actively investing in its long-haul infrastructure, Zayo is continuing to overbuild its routes in high-demand areas to enable enhanced fiber capacity. In Q3 2023, Zayo completed the overbuild of its Omaha to Denver route, providing increased capacity on this highly sought-after route.

Zayo also has three new long-haul route builds and two additional route overbuilds in progress with scheduled completion by the end of 2023.

What this means: The enhancement to Zayo’s long-haul dark fiber routes provide customers with diverse routing options and the ability to customize and enhance their network to meet the unique needs of their businesses while maximizing resiliency and ability to scale.

Zayo will continue to invest in future-proofing its network and services to connect what’s next for its customers.