Dover chosen as site of next-generation HALO centre by Laser Light
Global optical networking platform Laser Light has chosen Dover, close to the famous White Cliffs, for the site of its new UK-based facility to be known as the HALO Centre.
It will put Kent on the next-generation technological map and the planned centre will become a focal point of developing advanced laser system applications for space, terrestrial, and subsea cable data services.
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Locate in Kent, the inward investment promotion agency for Kent and Medway has worked closely with the economic development team at Dover District Council and Laser Light to secure a suitable site, including TechFort at the Citadel in Dover.
The centre is expected to span around 15,000 square feet and result in at least 80 new jobs over the next three years.
Laser Light is also seeking partnerships with other UK government agencies, particularly the Met Office, as well as local academic institutions interested in optical (laser) communications research, development, and employee training.
Bob Brumley, the group chairman and CEO at Laser Light, said: "We have big plans for our site in Kent. Our immediate priority is to get our ground networking Beta trial up and running, with real traffic between the Kent site and our other Beta sites world-wide, as soon as we can.
"We also expect to learn a lot about data origination/consumption patterns amongst communities in the UK and Europe, as well as our other Beta sites in Africa, Latin America, the US, and Australia.
"Our global search drew us to South East England and the Locate in Kent team demonstrated that Kent is the right location in the UK where we can achieve all of our goals."
Simon Ryan, investment director at Locate in Kent, added: "We’ve been working closely with Bob and his UK team, supporting through its location validation, system development and finally their site selection.
"I’m convinced they could be Kent’s first privately held start-up company with a value of over $1 billion.
There's a lot more to come, but it's fantastic to reach this stage at last."
He added: "We faced some stiff global competition, but at the end of the day, Kent’s access to global fibre, unencumbered air space and our partnership approach to achieving their success sealed the deal."
Cllr Kevin Mills, leader of Dover District Council, added: "Laser Light’s location choice in our area shows how successive investments in power and fibre in East Kent can act as a catalyst for blending our heritage assets with future proofed tech businesses."
Laser Light is deploying a global data platform, with over 200 micro data centres serving cloud-centric customers.
Once it is launched, this next-generation converged infrastructure will give giants like Google, Netflix, Meta as well as the fintech industry in the City of London, the capability to deliver high-volume – 100Tbps – content anywhere in the world in partnership with any service provider, on any device, in milliseconds.
Laser Light Holdings has its headquarters in Hamilton, Bermuda. Its UK subsidiary Laser Light Global Ltd has a London office but the operating centre is planned for Dover.
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