First communications hub in EMEA fully integrated with MAREA

Madrid, 27 January, 2021 – Telia Carrier announced today the launch of a new Point-of-Presence at Telxius’ interconnection rich Derio Communications Hub located near Bilbao, Spain. The agreement enhances Telia Carrier’s fiber backbone and connectivity for customers seeking gateway access to a completely new and diverse path from the Americas to Europe with low latency and high capacity between the two continents.

Strategically placed in Northern Spain, only a few kilometers away from MAREA’s submarine cable landing station, the Derio Communications Hub is a unique combination of an expanded cable landing station and a fully-fledged PoP, the first of its kind in EMEA.  It is specially designed to leverage the full potential of MAREA and connect it to the main communications hubs in Europe. The Derio Communications Hub is a carrier neutral facility with open architecture, offering high interconnection capacity as well as IP, Capacity, Colocation and Security services.

“We see this as a very strategic route that complements Telia Carrier’s number one global backbone,” said Art Kazmierczak, Director of Business and Network Development, Telia Carrier. “By bringing our two networks together, we are creating a fully integrated carrier-class route that can handle capacity at scale to drive new edge activities in the region while supporting customers from international and local markets seeking to diversify their network and reduce latency.”

Customers in the region can now take advantage of Telia Carrier’s number one ranked global backbone, AS1299, as well as the local availability of high-speed IP Transit, Cloud Connect, DDoS Mitigation, Ethernet and Internet Exchange (IX) Connect for operators, content providers and enterprises alike. The new expansion seamlessly connects to Telia Carrier’s terabit scale DWDM networks extending throughout Europe and the Americas.

“The combination of Telia Carrier’s extensive global network and our Derio Communications Hub is a win-win for the world’s largest operators, content providers and enterprises,” said Enrique Valdés, Sales VP Northern Region, Telxius Cable. “Colocating in Derio opens up a world of interconnection opportunities with the US via MAREA and with the main European hubs. We believe this will benefit large and small customers looking for flexible and innovative solutions that will adapt to the future demand of data services.”

MAREA, which means “tide” in Spanish, is one of the highest capacity transatlantic submarine cables to date. It connects Virginia Beach in the US, with Sopelana, in Northern Spain, providing an alternative path to the main communication hub routes to Africa, the Middle East and Asia. With a length of 6,600 kilometers and 200 Tbps of capacity, MAREA revolutionized transatlantic communications, with ultra-high capacity and low latency, designed to evolve at the pace of the most advanced technology.

Telxius’ Derio facilities leverage the full capacity of MAREA connecting to key communication hubs in Europe like Madrid, Paris, London and Marseille, providing customers with unprecedented levels of interconnection. Furthermore, to fully maximize Derio’s reach, Telxius is finalizing two direct backhaul connections straight to Paris and Madrid, leveraging existing Telxius infrastructure and adding to the benefits of the MAREA subsea route.

With 2,000 sqm and up to 4 MW of power, the Derio facility is carrier neutral and features TIER III specifications, representing the newest innovative design in subsea cable infrastructure. The facility offers a unique combination of being an expanded cable landing station (CLS) with advanced cable transmission capabilities, and a fully-fledged international PoP. In addition, it was designed using environmentally friendly standards and runs on 100 percent renewable energy with free cooling.

Telia Carrier connectivity underpins today’s digitally enabled society, providing the building blocks for digital enablement, transformation and innovation. With over 67,000 km of fiber, Telia Carrier is the leading global Internet backbone provider, connecting more than 300 Points-of-Presence in 35 countries across Europe, North America and Asia.