Cable&Wireless Worldwide closed Thameside its earth/satellite location centre in London as part of its ongoing pledge to significantly reduce its carbon emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Originally the Docklands Telecommunications Centre, Thameside was a collection of huge satellite dishes in the midst of the city. The relocation to various other sites took over two years to complete.
As a global network node and co-location centre Thameside provided global IP backbone access of up to 10 Gbps for roughly 40,000 100 Mbps Ethernet services. It also supplied direct access to all United Kingdom national and international cable heads, connecting tens of thousands of IP data and voice users around the world via cable networks to Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and the Americas.
The relocation of tens of thousands of users’ network connectivity was an immense project that has taken just over two years to complete. A team of more than a hundred people were a part of the 24 hour-a-day, two-year long operation to close Thameside, migrating all services and closing all voice, IP and data, hosting; and access platforms located in the site. All electronic equipment was disposed of according to WEEE regulations and, wherever possible, the equipment removed from the site was repurposed in other locations or recycled.
The various services provided by Thameside have been successfully dispersed to other C&W Worldwide locations with the satellite capability moved to Whitehill Earth Station in Oxfordshire and a new ecologically friendly network site, built with low-carbon efficiency in mind, even boasting a living roof that provides insulation, attracts local wildlife, creates an appealing facade for the surroundings and helps C&W Worldwide realise even more carbon savings.
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