Zayo Unveils Significant Network Expansion and Industry-First Product Innovation to Enable Customers to Connect What’s Next

Zayo continues to invest in growing, protecting and automating its core to cloud to edge network capabilities and solutions

Zayo Group Holdings, a leading global communications infrastructure provider, announced a series of expansions and enhancements to its network and services. These include enhanced network protection and an industry-first, on-demand connectivity service, as well as significant growth of its long-haul dark fiber and 400G-enabled routes and modernization of its IP core network.

 Latest AiThority Interview Insights : AiThority Interview with at Brian Sathianathan, Co-Founder and CTO at Iterate.ai

“We trust Zayo because they invest in their world-class network. The Zayo team worked with us to tailor a solution that met the unique needs of our school district and enhances our effectiveness to help students and staff achieve.”

“Yesterday’s network can’t deliver tomorrow’s ideas,” said Andrés Irlando, President of Zayo. “Zayo’s global network provides game-changing performance, scale, security, resilience and value for our customers. Our goal is to revolutionize the industry by constantly improving our network and prioritizing our customers’ needs. Our teams are focused on providing them with the best possible experience.”

Security Enhancements

Security has never been more important across the tech industry, and beyond. As more and more companies face the realities of route hijacking, Zayo has taken security protection for customers one step further.

In addition to deploying Resource Public Key Infrastructure (RPKI) filtering – a component of Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) compliance designed to secure the internet’s routing infrastructure – Zayo now requires two-factor authentication process for Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) route management. As one of the first communications infrastructure providers to implement a two-factor authentication process for BGP updates, this will provide improved security for the broader internet community and prevent inadvertent or malicious route hijacks from bad actors.

Providing an On-Demand Network

For large bandwidth customers who need data center connectivity quickly and easily, Zayo is launching Waves on Demand to enable same-day turn-up on the most in-demand routes, with significantly shortened delivery times. Zayo will be the only provider to enable customers to provision wavelengths within a day.

This industry-first means customers can quickly provision “Wavelength on Demand” between key data center locations across its market-leading network footprint, including its highest-demand routes. In 2023, Zayo launched 8 new Waves on Demand routes, with 5 additional routes planned for the future.

Zayo’s Completed Waves on Demand routes include:

• Newark, NJ – New York, NY (up to 400G)
• Ashburn, VA – New York, NY
• Hillsboro, OR – Seattle, WA
• Ashburn, VA – Newark, NJ
• Atlanta, GA – Dallas, TX
• Los Angeles, CA – San Jose, CA
• Inter-Los Angeles, CA
• Los Angeles, CA – San Jose, CA (alt)

Zayo’s Planned Waves on Demand Routes include:

• Toronto, ON – Chicago, IL
• San Jose, CA – Seattle, WA
• Newark, NJ – Chicago, IL
• Chicago, IL – Secaucus, NJ
• Englewood, FL – Chicago, IL

“The only way to stay ahead of the digital curve is to continuously transform. Transformative ideas need a reliable, resilient and on-demand network,” said Bill Long, Chief Product Officer at Zayo. “Zayo is leading the industry with network automation and self-service options, ensuring customers have unprecedented speed and resilience with more flexibility and elasticity, while enhancing security and value, so our customers can focus on making progress toward their business goals instead of worrying about their network.”

Network Growth and Modernization

This year Zayo began IP Core upgrades to support 400G connectivity, providing better routing performance, stability, high bandwidth and reduced pricing for customers. Zayo has partnered with Juniper Networks®, a global leader in IP networking, cloud and connected security solutions for next-gen IP Core connectivity.

“Juniper Networks is dedicated to delivering state-of-the-art solutions, including systems optimized for our customers’ current and future core throughput demands. We are pleased to partner with Zayo as they construct and fortify their next-generation IP Core network, equipped with 400G,” said Sally Bament, Vice President of Service Provider Marketing at Juniper Networks. “By employing Juniper’s core routers, Zayo can ensure their customers enjoy high-speed bandwidth services that can support growing performance and capacity demands of end users.”

The Growth of Zayo’s Network

• In 2022, Zayo added 5,200 route miles to its network, resulting in more than 1.35M fiber miles.
• Zayo now has 224 400G-enabled wavelength points of presence (PoPs) and 145 100G-enabled PoPs.
• Zayo deployed 24 long-haul waves routes in 2022 with 926TB of wavelength capacity, enabling 400G services across these routes, spanning more than 20,000 route miles. In 2023, Zayo will exceed the number of new Long Haul Dark Fiber routes deployed in 2022.
• Zayo will complete 8 long-haul construction projects in 2023, totaling 2,951 route miles and 708,000 fiber miles.
• Zayo is estimated to complete 32 400G routes in 2023 with 14 completed in the first half of the year.

Read More about AiThority Interview: AiThority Interview with Ajay Sathyanath, Chief Technology Officer at Madison Logic

Zayo’s 2023 planned new and augmented dark fiber routes:

• New – St. Louis, MO to Indianapolis, IN
• Overbuild – Denver, CO to Dallas, TX
• Overbuild – Chicago, IL to Omaha, NE
• Overbuild – Omaha, NE to Denver, CO
• Overbuild – Seattle, WA to Vancouver, WA
• New – Columbus, OH to Pittsburgh, PA
• Overbuild – St. Louis, MO to Memphis, TN
• New – Columbus, OH to Ashburn, VA

Zayo’s New Tier 1 400G Routes:

• Albany, NY – Newark, NJ
• Bend, OR – Umatilla, OR
• Chicago, IL – Cleveland, OH
• Albany, NY – Boston, MA
• Atlanta, GA – Washington, DC
• Dallas, TX – St. Louis, MO
• Denver, CO – Dallas, TX
• Kansas City, MO – Indianapolis, IN
• Las Vegas, NV – Phoenix, AZ
• Montreal, QC (Canada) – Quebec City, QC (Canada)
• Columbus, OH – Ashburn, VA
• Columbus, OH – Cleveland, OH
• Columbus, OH – Pittsburg, PA
• Chicago, IL – Clinton, KY
• Clinton, KY – Ponchatoula, LA
• Toronto, ON (Canada) – Waterloo, ON (Canada) (Crosslake)
• Toronto, ON (Canada) – Montreal, QC (South) (Canada)
• Toronto, ON (Canada) – Montreal, QC (North) (Canada)
• Indianapolis, IN – Columbus, OH
• Ashburn, VA – Baltimore, MD
• Salt Lake City, UT – Seattle, WA
• Los Angeles, CA – San Jose, CA

Additional tier 2 and 3 routes will also be added throughout 2023, totaling 32 new routes.

“We believe that technology plays a critical role in preparing students for the future. We chose Zayo’s future-ready network because of its resilience and performance,” said Dr. Thomas Weeks, Chief Technology Officer at Hillsborough County Public Schools. “We trust Zayo because they invest in their world-class network. The Zayo team worked with us to tailor a solution that met the unique needs of our school district and enhances our effectiveness to help students and staff achieve.”

Enhancing Service Delivery and Customer Experience

Zayo has also set out to change the trajectory of customer experience. Zayo optimized its service delivery with rebuilt processes that utilize automation to make working with Zayo easier for customers. Since implementing these changes, Zayo had its largest install quarter in history in Q4 2022.

 Latest AiThority Interview Insights : AiThority Interview with at Brian Sathianathan, Co-Founder and CTO at Iterate.ai

 [To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]