Virgin Media wins contract to power Met Office supercomputer

Virgin Media Business has secured a contract to power the Met Office’s supercomputer used for weather and climate predictions.

The computer will run over 23,000 trillion calculations per second and will enable scientists to offer accurate weather forecasting and help countries become more adaptable to high impact weather.

Virgin Media Business has created a service to meet the Met Office’s connectivity requirements in managing vast amount of data traffic between its sites.

Two high capacity, optical circuits will move the data between the Met Office HQ and a building which will house the new super computer at the Exeter Science Park.

Each circuit will carry 6 x 1Gbps, 1 x 10Gbps and 1 x 100Gbps Ethernet services.

The new Met Office HPC complex at the science park will feature IT Hall and a collaboration space where a range of industry organisations, research establishments and start-ups will work together.

The Met Office deputy director of high performance computing programme Dave Underwood said: "To power some of the world’s most intelligent technology we need a robust network that can weather all kinds of storms.

"Virgin Media Business created a bespoke solution for us which meets the complex needs of this supercomputer and will ensure we can sustain quality weather and climate services."

The contract was procured and awarded under the Government’s Network Service Framework (NSF), which went live throughout the public sector in July last year.

Virgin Media Business executive director of sales Rob Orr said: "The Met Office provides such a crucial service to this country and it is essential they have the right technology and infrastructure in place to fulfil their needs now and into the future."

Last month, Virgin Media launched the search for communities across the UK to receive an ultrafast broadband boost.

The Supercharging Local Communities’ initiative helps local communities benefit from an ultrafast broadband boost as part of the company’s £3bn network expansion plan throughout the UK.

Homes and businesses within 18 counties will benefit from an ultrafast optical fibre broadband connection delivered direct to their door, as part of Virgin Media’s Project Lightning network expansion.

Virgin Media Business is also powering more than 2,000 businesses in Birmingham’s emerging tech hubs with ultrafast connectivity.