LONDON, UK – EXA Infrastructure, the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America, today announced it has partnered with Colt Technology Services (Colt) on a new robust digital ecosystem in the Channel Tunnel linking the growing data centre markets in London and Paris.

The collaboration between the two industry titans offers its customers the most reliable and flexible fibre optic route utilising the shortest crossing on the market. EXA will upgrade 66 kilometres of undersea network with 288 fibres of the latest technology G.652D optical cable which will benefit new and existing customers.

In addition to the highly secure infrastructure being located in a tunnel 40 metres below the sea bed, the Channel Tunnel also offers routing flexibility for customers to reach Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt from London. This route guarantees resilience and diversity from the traditional routes on the market as well as an increase in capacity and availability across the entire FLAP region.

EXA Infrastructure, VP Network Investments, Steve Roberts said: “This is an important industry collaboration to meet the growing digital demand we are seeing across Europe and beyond. The Channel Tunnel forms a key part of EXA’s strategy to provide our clients with a choice of three scalable and fully diverse dark routes between the UK and Europe. ”

The strategic connection between London and Paris will power the future of connectivity across the English Channel. EXA and Colt are in the process of upgrading their cables either side of the tunnel to offer customers a modern G.652D cable route from London to Paris.

Andrew Edison,  Executive Vice President (EVP)  Sales, Marketing and Customer Success, said: “We’re very proud to have a strong partnership with EXA Infrastructure and are leading the industry innovation in collaboration on connectivity. We are committed to building powerful connections for our people, customers and partners across the entire digital infrastructure ecosystem.”

The news comes after EXA announced last year it was commissioning a new low latency fibre optic network link between London and Paris, to provide diversity from the channel tunnel, as well as the first under the English Channel for more than 20 years.