BT’s network arm Openreach has launched a virtual dark fibre service, ‘Optical Spectrum Access Filter Connect’ (‘OSA Filter Connect’), Capacity Media reports. The OSA Filter Connect service will allow communications providers (CPs) to operate private data connections using virtual dark fibre, and will enable them to scale up capacity to support 100Gbps, with a maximum bandwidth of more than 3Tbps. According to Openreach the new offering will give CPs all the benefits of dark fibre – such as the ability to control and increase bandwidth usage at no extra cost – without having to compromise on service and maintenance levels, by enabling them to operate their own network electronics on top of managed connection that is monitored by Openreach on a 24/7 basis.
Commenting on the new product launch, Daren Wallington, Openreach’s general manager for higher bandwidth and passive products, said: ‘We’ve re-engineered our high-bandwidth optical services to give our wholesale customers far greater flexibility at a fantastic price … OSA Filter Connect allows providers to grow their needs affordably, at their own pace and using their choice of innovative equipment.’
As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, Openreach had previously been expected to launch a dark fibre access service in October 2017, but ultimately cancelled the product launch after Competition Appeals Tribunal (CAT) found that Ofcom had ‘erred’ in determinations made in its ‘Business Connectivity Market Review – Review of competition in the provision of leased lines’ following an appeal lodged by BT.