EXATEL has opened its seventh point for service provision outside of Poland. The POP (point of presence) in Paris will increase the operator network’s bandwidth immensely. This is yet another activity strengthening EXATEL’s position as a digital platform connecting Western and Eastern Europe.
Since 2016, EXATEL has been intensively reinforcing its presence in several foreign markets. Our two points of presence in Frankfurt and Amsterdam have been joined by ones in London, Kiev, Moscow and Prague. Now we have opened one in Paris.
“For many years, international markets have been an important element in our development strategy. Voice wholesale is a good example. EXATEL is operating in this field virtually on all continents, terminating 3 billion minutes per year. In the case of data transmission, which depends on physical infrastructure, the European market is crucial to us. Long ago, we understood the opportunity arising from the strategic location of Poland on the map of Europe. This is a huge potential that we are benefiting from to further develop the company. The combination of high network reliability and service quality makes us a key partner in this part of Europe, both for the largest global operators and for corporations operating internationally” – said Rafał Magryś, EXATEL Vice-President for, among others, infrastructure.
This is seconded by Maciej Małecki, Deputy Minister of State Assets:
“At a time when building the position of companies on the European market is especially important, it is imperative to mark one’s presence in every market segment. Innovative solutions and consistent activities in the field of IP transit confirm this principle and thus open further chances for a modern functioning within the operator sector” – added Małecki.
Regional domination in IP traffic
The direction of EXATEL’s expansion is the outcome of the multi-year company development strategy adopted in 2016. One of its main assumptions was increasing the share in the commercial and public operator sectors (both domestically, as well as abroad). These two sectors especially require large bandwidths, appropriate fibre-optic network coverage and reliability so as to freely transfer data between any points in Europe.
“Launching an international exchange point in Paris (France-IX) arises from the need for international expansion and the competition for regional dominance in the field of IP transit. Expanding our network with the point in France directly stems from the needs of our customers. A significant portion of our network traffic is directed to/from this direction. The launched point will also enable us to increase the global bandwidth of the entire IP network managed by EXATEL” – said Michał Szczęsny, Director of the Network Planning and Architecture Office at EXATEL.
Internet exchange points (IXP) to which the Polish operator is currently tied-in are: Frankfurt (DE-CIX), Amsterdam (AMS-IX), London (LINX), Moscow (MSK-IX), Kiev (DTEL-IX), Prague (NIX.CZ) and Paris (France-IX). Foreign market development has enabled the volume of IP traffic handled by EXATEL to increase by 319% since 2016. The company does not rule out extending this list in the future.
Map 1 – EXATEL’s worldwide activities
Local operator of first choice
Owing to our constantly modernized network, EXATEL is currently offering the world the fastest cyberroute between Frankfurt and Moscow. The number of POPs increases year-on-year means that Poland’s national operator increasingly more often provides services to international banks, stock exchanges, corporations or enterprises with branches scattered all over Europe.
“The second largest fibre-optic network in Poland and 7 POPs outside the country constitute strong arguments in the competition for foreign contracts. Our clients include almost all TIER 1 operators. If we add international services provided to such companies as mBank, Oriflame, Comarch, PKO BP, Nordea, Synthos, Polish Television (TVP) or institutions like the Polish Air Navigation Services Agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or the Ministry of National Defence, it is clear that this is the right direction for our company’s development” – added Magryś.
Today, EXATEL has 398 points of exchange with domestic and foreign operators. Moreover, the company terminates 260 million minutes every month for clients from all over the world. In Poland, the company provides telecommunications services not only for business, other operators or the public sector, it ensures connectivity for the OST112 network (necessary for the operation of medical rescue in Poland, the Police and Fire Brigade), as well as infrastructure used by the Polish government and ministries, key power systems and other critical infrastructure. It also develops proprietary solutions like the Polish TAMA anti-DDoS or SDNbox. In addition, since 2019, the company has been providing satellite communication services.
