Zen Internet and Sky Business Wholesale have announced a strategic partnership that will see the former’s partners and direct business customers gain access to Sky’s Ethernet-enabled exchange footprint.
Headquartered in Rochdale and employing 650 people, Zen offers a range of broadband, data, voice, hosting and infrastructure services to homes and businesses across the UK. It claims to be the largest B Corporation certified telecommunications and network connectivity provider in the UK.
With a network spanning over 2,800 exchanges, with more than 80% enabled for 10 Gb services, Zen also provides what it describes as “complex” network and cloud services for a range of large businesses and corporate customers through its strategic partnerships with Amazon Web Services and Cisco.
Sky Business says its mission is to keep firms connected and customers entertained with a “next-generation network and unrivalled live sport and entertainment”. The company says it’s guided by three premises: always innovating; making customers’ lives easier with next-level support; and continually investing in business.
Zen regards the collaboration as marking a “significant” step forward in delivering high-performance, scalable connectivity services to businesses across the UK. It adds that the partnership lays the foundations for a long-term strategic relationship, with growth and innovation at its core.
The partnership is also designed to further strengthen Zen’s partner portal, The Fibre Hub, after its launch in May. This offers access to a full-fibre footprint of nearly 20 million premises via infrastructure providers Openreach, CityFibre, ITS and Freedom Fibre, with products from Trooli coming soon.
By aligning application programming interface strategies and automation capabilities, both providers aim to accelerate quoting, ordering and service delivery, bringing greater speed and efficiency to its partners and direct business customers.
David Barber, strategy director at Zen Internet, regarded Sky’s network reach as a strong strategic fit for his company. “This partnership expands choice and flexibility for our channel and UK businesses we serve directly, enabling us and the channel to compete more effectively on price, coverage and service,” he said. “It is another significant step in bringing genuine infrastructure competition to the UK market.
“As we continue to build relationships with more key network providers, we’re on track to offer the widest geographic reach and the best commercial advantage for the channel, and for direct business customers.”
Sky Business Wholesale managing director Damian Saunders added: “We’re excited to partner with Zen, a business that shares our focus on innovation and customer choice. This is just the beginning of a broader collaboration that will bring real value and better outcomes for the channel and business customers alike.”
Going forward, Zen says it will also provide its channel partners and direct business customers access to Sky Business Wholesale’s Ethernet-enabled exchange footprint and 10GB Ethernet services. This builds on Zen’s offering of Ethernet over fibre to the premises and business-grade connectivity products from CityFibre and ITS.
