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Equinix, the global interconnection and data center company, has announced that it has been selected by Laser Light Communications (US) and their affiliate firm, Laser Light Global, as their strategic interconnection provider for Laser Light’s All Optical Hybrid Global Network or “HALO”, the world’s first hybrid optical network exclusively utilizing laser technology. As part of the initial agreement, Laser Light will establish their inaugural global Point of Presence (PoP) at Equinix’s DC11 International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the Washington, D.C. area.  

With their deployment at DC11, Laser Light will commence installation, testing and demonstration of their leading-edge laser communications and SD-WAN equipment. Once operational, the HALO satellite constellation will offer its Optical Satellite as a Service (OSaaS) - SpaceCable services -  to carriers, enterprises and government customers at Equinix facilities around the globe, providing a seamless all-optical communications system, through its hybrid satellite-terrestrial network, capable of quickly and cost-effectively connecting any two points on the globe with 100 Gbps service links.

Highlights / Key Facts

• The initial deployment in Equinix’s DC11 IBX is expected to grow with additional Points of Presence planned globally, including Equinix facilities in the UK, Japan, Brazil, Australia, the Middle East, and Europe.
• Space-based laser communication technology - known as Free Space Optics - stems from 20+ years of civil science and federal investments and deployments by government entities such as Department of Defense (DOD), National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), European Space Agency (ESA) and Japanese Space Agency (JSA).  It is now being commercialized for the first time by private firms, such as Laser Light.
• Equinix is home to 1,400+ networks and 2,500+ cloud and IT service providers on its global platform with 145+ data centers, across 40 top markets on five continents. This makes it the home of the interconnected cloud and a natural partner for Laser Light’s HALO Network. By leveraging Equinix’s rich ecosystem of customers, Equinix provides Laser Light a marketplace enabling them to offer their capacity to Equinix customers, who require low latency, high data volume transmission services for their global market destinations.
• An Equinix partnership will permit Laser Light to access global facilities, which will aid in their need for interconnection with local and terrestrial fiber infrastructure as necessary to bypass atmospheric interference and deliver the Optical Satellite as a Service (“OSaaS”) directly to their customers.