Cable & Wireless Plc plans to construct what it says will be the world’s first globally-deployed Internet exchange network (CI No 2,806). By next May the company aims to provide a high-speed access service to directly connect eight countries, including the UK, Australia and Japan, with 2Mbps leased lines. Further out, the firm says it intends to connect 500 cities in 50 countries by 1999. To facilitate its plans, Cable & Wireless has announced the creation of a new business unit, Cable & Wireless Internet Exchange or CWIX, to develop the Internet exchange system. The CWIX system is to be used by Cable & Wireless units worldwide as the transport layer to deliver Internet services to customers in their respective markets, and will also be available to conduct peering sessions with corporate networks and other Internet providers. Via the Internet Exchange, says the firm, it will offer unprecedented flexibility in customising routes, bandwidth and network management features. For the first time in the industry, CWIX enables Internet providers and customers to tailor systems based on their global traffic patterns, instead of being forced to route all traffic through the US, says Brian Smith, the newly appointed chairman of Cable & Wireless. Other advantages cited by the company include the facility for travellers to get low-cost access to their home Internet service provider without having to register with a local in each country, and the reliability of the service because Cables will manage all of the network connections.
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The firm says it will deliver the Internet Exchange service capability by deploying multiple Global Network Access Points in Asia, the US-Caribbean region, Europe and Australia. These are to be integrated with its Global Digital Highway Network. Features of the Internet services available through the CWIX network are planned to include instantaneous restoration on multiple routes on the Global Digital Highway; common technical systems between the countries connected to the G-NAP; 24-hour-a-day customer support in the local language; and a global domain registry. The first Cable & Wireless companies to offer Internet services via the network and introduce CWIX-based Internet services will be Cable & Wireless Japan; Cable & Wireless Europe; Cable & Wireless Inc of the US; Hong Kong Telecommunications Ltd; Mercury Communications Ltd; Omnes; and CaribSurf Internet Services, which are provided by Cable & Wireless associate companies in Barbados; Grenada; British Virgin Islands; St Vincent, the Turks & Caicos Islands; and St Kitts & Nevis.
