Anyone who isn't in the process of moving away from KQ/Ebone is
in deep trouble and should act now to ensure you get on the
list of an alternative nearer the top than the bottom. I've
heard reports from various parts of Europe about issues
and in todays FT it looks like the network will be shutdown
by the NOC employees unless the company is bought outright!
What I wonder is what they mean by "shutdown". If this means that the
equipment is unplugged, then how many of these alternate providers will
suddenly discover that they have a dependency on an Ebone SDH/SONET ADM or
an Ebone DWDM box? If management at these alternate providers is just
hunting through their databases looking for KPN/Qwest dependencies they
probably won't see the complete picture. KQ only completed the Ebone
acquisition back in March and about a year earlier, Ebone was doing
business under the name GTS or Global Telesystems. Most people who bought
wavelengths or leased lines from Ebone would have done it under those
names and most of those companies were carriers or network operators.
This could get interesting. Personally, I hope that the NOC employees in
Brussels succeed in getting potential buyers to realize the value of a
functioning cross-border fiber network that covers all of Europe.
Michael Dillon
ex-Ebone