By Lisa Burroughes, 6 July 1998 17:30
NEWS Colt and Racal Telecom have announced they are to link their UK national and metropolitan fibre-optic networks. The deal will give business users better high-speed connections between cities. In the first phase, Racal will connect London's financial centre with New York, offering Colt's customer telephony, videoconferencing and Internet links through the London 'carrier hotel', Telehouse. The project will be completed by the end of the year, and analysts predict similar deals will soon follow for other European cities. Benoit Reillier, consultant at Telcom Consultancy, said: "Colt is following quite a focused strategy. One of its plans is to focus on partnerships and the other is to link up all its local loops throughout Europe." Colt has carved out a niche for itself because of its ability to offer large-volume telephony users, such as banks, a high quality service at a discount. Reillier believes the partnership will open up new market segments to more potential customers for both companies. He said: "Colt needs to strike wholesale deals with companies which can address segments in the market that are not part of its core business. Then the two can split the benefits."
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