A powerful new high-speed communications link has been forged between telecom service provider Hibernia Networks and Equinix (News - Alert). Hibernia announced it will offer Ethernet connectivity to and within the Equinix Cloud Exchange in North America, Asia and Europe.

The alliance utilizes Hibernia’s EtherReach Cloud Exchange, which routes traffic through the Hibernia Express low latency transatlantic cable. It amounts to a massive win for Equinix and is one of the largest connectivity deployments for the Cloud Exchange. The companies will initially deploy services to 12 major cities in six countries throughout the coverage areas. A second deployment phase will reach an additional six cities in 11 countries.

The EtherReach Cloud Exchange offers quick service as well as consistently high levels of network and application performance with SLAs to back up service. By enabling secure connectivity to the Equinix Cloud Exchange, more than 500 cloud providers will be accessible over Hibernia’s high-availability connections. Customers will gain access to a number of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS  platforms like AWS, Google, Microsoft (News - Alert) Azure and Office 365, Oracle, Softlayer and VMware.

"EtherReach Cloud Exchange provides enterprises, system integrators and wholesale customers with a secure, dedicated global network connectivity solution to the robust selection of cloud service providers available on the Equinix Cloud Exchange," said Al DiGabriele, senior vice president of product and marketing at Hibernia Networks. "Combining a more consistent and lower latency network experience with access to cost-effective cloud services allows customers to simplify operations, improve efficiencies and accelerate time to market."

"Being able to tap into Hibernia Networks' high capacity, low latency network infrastructure provides customers with a cost-effective, secure and reliable dedicated connection as an alternative to the public Internet," added Jim Poole, vice president of service provider marketing at Equinix. Equinix has presence in 33 markets throughout the world, and the company’s Cloud Exchange is available in 21 of those with plans for expansion.