Interoute Communications Ltd was a privately held
telecommunication
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that fe ...
s company that operated large
cloud service platforms in Europe. On 23 February 2018, Interoute was acquired by
GTT Communications
GTT Communications, Inc. (GTT), formerly Global Telecom and Technology, is a multinational telecommunications and internet service provider company with headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and incorporated in Delaware. GTT operates a Tier 1 IP ne ...
for $2.3bn (€1.9bn);
and the acquisition closed on 31 May 2018.
Operations
Interoute's network was the largest privately owned Europe-wide IP clouds as of 2009, before its acquisition by GTT Communications.
Interoute had ten subsea landing stations ringing the edge of Europe, which acted as the landing point for a number of submarine cable systems, as well as providing the European link to the
SEACOM cable connecting East and South Africa to Europe. Mediterranean operators
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, capital ...
, Malta's GO and Greece's OTE link directly to the Interoute network in Italy.
History
Interoute was founded in 1995 and restructured into its current form amidst the
collapse of the telecommunications sector. Four weeks after its holding company i-21 Holdings Ltd., went into administration, Interoute Telecommunications also went by its main supplier,
Alcatel Alcatel may refer to:
* Alcatel, a former French telecommunications equipment company, which became Alcatel-Lucent and is now part of Nokia
* Alcatel Mobile, a brand of mobile phones, tablets and wearables, formerly a joint venture between Alcatel ...
. A team led by Chairman and CEO
James Kinsella undertook extensive restructuring and sold its traditional telephony operations in order to concentrate exclusively on network and Internet services. A final settlement with Alcatel was reached, effective February 2003.
The core of Interoute's assets is a purpose-built network spanning the European Union. That physical infrastructure was supplemented through a series of acquisitions. Interoute acquired the
Ebone Ebone may refer to:
* Ebone, Cameroon, a town and commune in Cameroon
* EBONE Ebone may refer to:
* Ebone, Cameroon, a town and commune in Cameroon
* EBONE, a pan-European Internet backbone
{{disambig ... , a pan-European Internet backbone ...
NV network from receivers McStay Luby in July 2002. The deal transferred eight high-capacity
s (MANs) into Interoute's ownership, at a cost rumoured to be a fraction of the €645 million KPNQwest paid for it. In November 2002,
reported that Interoute was hit by £310 million debt. Between 2003 and 2007 Interoute acquired a number of businesses, including: Virtue Broadcasting's Media Services Division, to expand its value-added services portfolio; Central European Communications Holdings BV (CECOM) and its operating subsidiaries in
, which extended its footprint in the CEE; the European operations of hosting provider VIA NET.WORKS; and
. More recently (Oct 2014), they acquired Vtesse Group to expand their cloud services portfolio across the UK.
In September 2015, Interoute announced plans to acquire
announced the acquisition of Interoute for $2.3 billion. The acquisition closed on 31 May.
one of the world's largest private family foundations as well as by Aleph Capital, an independent investment firm based in London and Crestview Partners.