TeliaSonera building optical network for Facebook

Nordic carrier group TeliaSonera’s wholesale division and backbone operator, TeliaSonera International Carrier, has announced that it is building a pan-European managed optical network for Facebook. To provide the social network with connectivity between internet exchange points in multiple European cities and its newest datacentre in Sweden.

The carrier said that it is well placed to build and provide network infrastructure and services to Facebook, as it will be able to use its experience and expertise from operating one of the world’s largest fibre backbones.

“Our vision is to enable innovation throughout society at the speed of fibre,” said Erik Hallberg, president of TeliaSonera International Carrier.

The social network recently set up a datacentre on the edge of the Arctic Circle in Luleå, Sweden, in order to make  Facebook faster for users in Europe, and also because the weather conditions will help keep servers cool. Management of Facebook’s network will be performed by the operator’s network operation centre in Karlstad, Sweden.

TeliaSonera International Carrier owns and operates more than 43,000 kilometres of fibre network, covering more than 200 points of presence in major cities in 35 countries across Europe, North America and Asia.