Cable & Wireless ups capacity

Cable & Wireless announced last week that it has increased the IP network capacity between its multinational networks.

The carrier has upgraded its switching gear to now support more high-speed services including Ethernet and OC-12 and OC-48 dedicated bandwidth offerings.

Capacity has been increased between Japan and the U.S. from 3.1G bit/sec to 4.34G bit/sec (a 1.4 times increase), Japan and Asia from 472M bit/sec to 843M bit/sec (1.8 times), and Tokyo and Osaka from 1G bit/sec to 2.48G bit/sec (2.4 times).

These network upgrades are in line with the carrier’s move away from serving U.S. customers that only have regional needs. Although Cable & Wireless offers services in 80 countries, the carrier is primarily focusing on business users that have network connectivity needs spanning several countries.

Cable & Wireless also announced earlier this month that it is expanding its voice and data offerings in the Caribbean.

The service provider has been offering service in the English-speaking part of the Caribbean for a number of years, and is now offering services in Martinique and Guadeloupe, which are part of the French Caribbean. France Telecom is the incumbent provider in the French Caribbean. Cable & Wireless is now offering businesses voice, private line, frame relay, voice over IP and IP-VPN services in Martinique and Guadeloupe.

The carrier is also in the process of upgrading its wireless network to support GSM/GPRS 2.5G services in the Caribbean.

Cable & Wireless says it is investing $200 million in the second quarter to initially rollout its upgraded network in Jamaica, Cayman and Barbados.