Boost network resilience to maximise customer uptime

Following the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses are more reliant than ever upon high-quality connectivity to operate efficiently. The same is true for individuals, who increasingly regard fast, reliable, high-capacity connectivity as essential, because it helps them live their lives in the way they want – with remote working, social networking and online entertainment now the daily norm for many.

In the fiercely competitive connectivity marketplace, service reliability is a critical factor in the supplier selection process of enterprises and domestic customers. So, for competing Internet Service Providers (ISPs), wireless ISPs (WISPs) and mobile network operators (MNOs), a high level of network resilience is a crucial consideration when choosing which capacity provider to work with.

Diversity offers increased service security and uptime

To be able to offer end-users maximum service uptime, the fundamental starting point for a connectivity provider is to procure from a provider with high levels of diversity built into their own network and backed by a strong Service Level Agreement.

One such provider is pan-African capacity wholesaler WIOCC, which has an 11-year track record of investing in building Africa’s hyperscale infrastructure. It recently enhanced its network in South Africa with a multi-million-dollar infrastructure investment and now provides reliable, fast, flexible and easily scalable connectivity solutions over a unique, 16Tbps-ready, Optical Transport Network (OTN)-enabled hyperscale network.

As a result, very high levels of diversity are being delivered over a unique network architecture that includes a hyperscale national backbone; an extensive network of 30 national and 70 on-net Metro PoPs; a new North-East fibre ring with PoPs in Polokwane, Nelspruit and Musina; and metropolitan area coverage across Bloemfontein, Cape Town, Durban, East London, Johannesburg, Port Elizabeth and Pretoria.

“Our approach to redundancy is simple and highly-effective. Instead of having a primary route, with secondary and tertiary back-ups, we make use of a combination of ring topologies that allow us to offer clients up to four routes to reach their desired destinations”, explained WIOCC Sales Manager for Southern Africa, Carlos De Almeida

For example, along the very popular Jo’burg to Cape Town route, WIOCC’s commitment to maximising service uptime for clients means it has multiple routes along which it can transport services:

• through Bloemfontein, with two diverse paths to Jo’burg
• two routes from Cape Town via Kimberley, with a single onward to Jo’burg and a link between Kimberley, and Bloemfontein
• an additional fibre on WIOCC’s new coastal route from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth is due to be completed Q4 2020, from Port Elizabeth to East London and a link to Bloemfontein are already live. Onwards to Durban will also be completed in Q4 2020 and from there to Jo’burg there are two diverse routes.

Similarly, for clients with customers or operations in neighbouring countries, WIOCC is able to offer diverse cross-border routes – into Botswana, for example, via Ramatlabama and Lobatse.

The value of tailored solutions

Cost-effective, long-term relationships between capacity providers and purchasers are built upon close working relationships and the ability to deliver customised connectivity solutions that precisely meet each client’s current and projected future needs.

To find out about working with an award-winning, hyperscale capacity wholesaler offering industry-leading levels of network diversity, contact WIOCC at info@wiocc.net.