Through Surf’s fibre ring network topology, NGD Europe customers requiring transatlantic communications have the potential to enjoy direct fibre connectivity to various submarine cable landing stations in the South West of England, uniquely bypassing the conventional backhaul locations in London to enable improved resilience, speed and reduced latency.

“This is a very important strategic development for us,” said Nick Razey, CEO of Next Generation Data Limited, the owner and operator of NGD Europe. “Given our positioning as a genuinely secure alternative to London it is essential that we offer high bandwidth connectivity which does not transit London. Our contract with Surf will facilitate dark fibre links to various submarine cable landing stations including those at Bude and Lands End and onward connectivity to the rest of the world.”

Steve Blew, Commercial Manager of Surf Telecoms commented: “We are delighted to include NGD Europe as a further point of presence (POP) on our extensive fibre network and believe our wide range of business customers will welcome the opportunity of being able to have access to this impressive data centre’s world class facilities.”

Located at the Tamar Science Park (TSP), The University of Plymouth is a founding partner of the science park and has agreed a long-term contract for the provision of data services.

Professor Julian Beer, its director of research and enterprise, said: “The Tamar Science Park remains one of our primary strategic partners in delivering our mission as the enterprise university in the region’s most enterprising city.

“This strong relationship, drawing together education, science and business, ensures a key focus in Plymouth for innovation and knowledge transfer, helping to drive the region’s knowledge economy and science base,” he added.

“As partners, our support for business and entrepreneurship is aligned so that knowledge transfers into opportunities for high-value jobs and new, innovative businesses for the city, and raises Plymouth’s profile regionally and nationally.

Geoff Bouch, Head of ICT at the University of Plymouth said: “Surf Telecom and TSP worked very hard to ensure that the Data Centre facilities and data communications were available on time and to the required specifications – we are very happy with their collaborative approach to this project. We now have a first class backup Data Centre providing the level of business continuity required by the University.”

Richard Doble, Design and Policy Manager at Surf Telecoms said: “We are delighted to include TSP Data Centre as a further point of presence on Surf Telecoms extensive fibre network which supports our range of Optical Service Layer and Carrier Class MPLS Ethernet services. Our customers will welcome the opportunity of being able to have access to this impressive Data Centre’s excellent facilities, complimented by Surf Telecoms quality infrastructure, services and solutions.”

At the end of last year, the park took over Stage One of its Phase 4 development, in which science, industry and education will converge on one site. Costing £11.7million, it provides further lettable space for business, a Data Centre, pre-incubation space, a bistro and further conference facilities.

Considered a ‘second-generation’ science park, the maturing operation is now extending its capabilities to new operations in the region and beyond.

With 58 companies, the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry and Peninsula Enterprise (Business Link) on site – with a combined turnover of some £70million and about 800 employees – the park plays a significant part in the city’s economic development.

TSP is a patron of the Chamber of Commerce (joining a select group of eight city organisations), making it a powerful body in the city and opening up more financial benefits to both organisations.

The patronage allows The TSP and the Chamber to work in partnership on many projects – all of which will be a benefit to the city. One project includes a superfast broadband initiative and the TSP Data Centre with services provided by Surf will benefit the business and science development industries in the city and cement the future for the city’s industry.

Steve Blew, commercial manager at Surf Telecoms, which is part of the Western Power Distribution Group, has been working at the science park. “We’re a regional service provider and one of the companies which have put fibre optic cables in for businesses at the science park,” he said. “We were pleased to offer cost- effective solutions to the park – and we’re pleased to shout about that.”

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And we’d be delighted to hear what you think about the new site; what you like and of course, what you don’t like. Please do contact us with your feedback.

The college offers a wide range of courses from GCSE right through to Degree level including Apprenticeships. With fantastic facilities for school leavers to study Sport and to play as much sport as they like Truro College focuses hard on its rugby, cricket and netball, entering teams into competitions and tournaments across the globe.

Overall winners of the tournament were Saracens, with Truro College coming in third place. It was a pleasure to be able to support a wonderful local event and representatives from Surf were treated exceptionally well by the staff, organisers and the teams themselves. All round it was a fun and challenging event that was a huge success.

Richard Doble, Design and Policy Manager, Surf Telecoms, said: “Western Power Distribution’s electricity infrastructure reaches over 2.5 million homes across South West England and South and West Wales and, with this trial, we’re exploring an innovative new approach that could bring ultrafast broadband to many customers for the first time. The possibilities of aerial deployment promise a valuable use of existing infrastructure and an interesting new commercial opportunity for utility companies. We’re pleased to be at the forefront of this innovation.”

According to Virgin Media, more than one million homes could eventually benefit from the novel approach. The partnership with Surf Telecoms will mean that homes will have a direct connection to the Virgin Media network. In an area where previously the only real alternative was BT’s copper-wire infrastructure, the new service could provide consumers with a ten-fold speed increase, with up to 50Mb broadband being available.

The trial continues until 2011.

Ian is passionate about science and engineering and his infectious enthusiasm for making learning fun made for a very entertaining speech. After dinner, everyone was invited to tour the Museum’s newly created Making the Modern World gallery. From Stephenson’s locomotive – Rocket – to the Apollo 10 command module the gallery looks at technology used in everyday life from 1750 to the present day. The private tour was led by expert curator, John Liffin, who brought a fascinating insight into the history of some of the most iconic inventions ever created.

Highly relevant to the evening was the visit to the Telecoms display. In the midst of being created and not open to the public at the time, the display maps the development of telecommunications from the earliest telegraph, telephone and radio equipment to the very latest high-tech computer chips. Most impressive was The Listening Post exhibit with over 230 individual LCD screens. Taking sample fragments in real time from public internet chatrooms and bulletin boards, the constantly changing visual display provides a totally unique snapshot of the world’s chatter.

The evening was a huge success and Commercial Manager, Steve Blew, took time to thank all Surf’s customers, suppliers and staff for helping it achieve its 10^th birthday, and looks forward to the next 10 years growing together.