Zen Internet has announced that Huawei will provide the technology to power its new carrier-grade network, supplying the hardware at the core of what the independent telecommunications and internet service provider believes will be the UK’s most cutting edge network.

Zen and Huawei are working closely on the new network’s design and build, with Huawei installing its best-in-class networking technology as part of Zen’s ambition to create the UK’s first truly software-defined ISP network. The next generation infrastructure will allow Zen to decouple the services it offers to its business customers from the underlying physical architecture, leaving a network that is more cost-effective, agile, scalable and efficient.

Specifically, Zen will be installing Huawei’s NetEngine ‘NE’ series routers in its Manchester, Rochdale, Leeds and London core sites as a standard building block in a new modular, horizontally scalable design. This simplifies the network while greatly expanding its capacity and the variety of services Zen can offer to customers.

Zen is leveraging both Huawei MultiAccess ‘MA’ series and smaller companion NE series routers to extend the intelligent network capability directly to the edge with designs for the full range of unbundled local exchange services.

Jon Bauer, Zen’s technical director for network and infrastructure, said: “We chose Huawei because it has a wealth of experience in building networks and offers the right technology to match our ambitions. With Huawei we’re creating a carrier-grade network that will, for business customers, mean a more dynamic and flexible portfolio of products and services, alongside even greater resilience and performance.”

Zen’s major network investment will be complemented by a significant expansion of its on-net presence.

Its number of Points of Presence (PoPs) in BT exchanges will rise from 270 to over 400 in the next few months, and expand Zen’s robust, cost-effective on-net reach to well over 500,000 postcodes, covering nearly every corner of the UK.

Jon said the company is creating a network that is ‘fit for the future’, with capacity and performance to meet both ever-growing demands for data and Zen’s ambitions in managed voice and cloud services.

Jon added: “For customers it means a network that will, with Huawei equipment at its core, make their businesses more competitive now and in the future. It means we will be able to grow capacity more cheaply and quickly than our competitors, adding extra services and emerging technologies to our portfolio whenever the demand arises. In the short term it will mean major performance efficiencies, much better fault tolerance and more cost-effective solutions.”

Steven Harrison, Huawei’s chief design architect on the project, said: “The network we’re building together with Zen makes the best use of time-proven technologies together with cutting edge SDN capabilities to deliver a network with easier operation and more in-built agility than ever before.”

Shiweiliang, UK managing director for Huawei Enterprise Business, added: “Huawei are incredibly proud to be chosen as Zen’s network technology partner. We’re fully committed to Zen and we’re very excited about the future together.”

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For further information:

Please contact Emma Cooney, interim head of marketing, Zen Internet. Emma.cooney@zeninternet.co.uk 01706 902000.

Editor’s Notes

Zen Internet is an independent cloud, connectivity and voice service provider supporting mid-market and corporate enterprises in the UK.

Over the past 21 years Zen has established a reputation as a trusted provider of complex and bespoke connectivity, communications and cloud services, which help businesses achieve substantial long-term growth. Customers also benefit from Zen’s independent, resilient and robust network.

The company has won many awards for excellence including the UK IT Industry Award for Services Company of the Year, a UK Customer Experience Silver Award for Technology & Telecoms and PC Pro’s Best Internet Service Provider.

Huawei is a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider. Driven by responsible operations, ongoing innovation, and open collaboration, Huawei has established a competitive ICT portfolio of end-to-end solutions in telecom and enterprise networks, devices, and cloud computing. Its ICT solutions, products, and services are used in more than 170 countries and regions, serving over one-third of the world's population. With more than 170,000 employees, Huawei is committed to enabling the future information society, and building a better connected world.