Today’s businesses of all types and sizes are migrating a bulk of their data and computing to the cloud, and are doing so through carrier Ethernet services. The demand is apparent, as Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) revealed that in 2010 alone, the overall retail carrier Ethernet services market grew at an annual growth rate of 40 percent to eclipse $2.1 billion in revenues.

But, there’s one service provider in particular that keeps finding itself in the spotlight for helping customers make this shift to the cloud.

Answering the call for more carrier Ethernet services, tw telecom (News - Alert), a top-tier business Ethernet provider in the U.S., has expanded its presence in Platform Equinix (News - Alert), a platform from data center provider Equinix connecting enterprises and a variety of companies and network service providers to help them grow their businesses, improve application performance and protect critical digital assets. This arrangement, announced today (Tuesday), will help tw telecom securely reach cloud service providers and enterprise customers operating in Equinix data centers across the country.

At this time, tw telecom will deliver its Intelligent Network service portfolio to 21 Equinix International Business Exchange data centers. In addition, in order to meet carrier demand for domestic and international connectivity, the company also intends to broaden its reach to other key Equinix data center locations in the future.

"As more enterprises adopt cloud-based applications, the demand for retail Ethernet ports and metro fiber networks increases," said Tom Marx, president of National Sales, Wholesale Services for tw telecom, in a press release. "By expanding our presence in Platform Equinix, tw telecom will be the premier network for the next-generation cloud. Our relationship with Equinix helps us deliver the best possible service to our existing customers, and also helps us identify opportunities to reach new customers and grow our business within the Equinix Marketplace. With Equinix, we are turning our data center into a revenue center."

tw telecom’s Intelligent Network service portfolio includes services like Enhanced Network Performance Management, or the representation of real-time network performance management on a simplified portal, and Dynamic Capacity, otherwise known as “bandwidth-on-demand.” According to the company’s announcement, tw telecom’s multiple connection options within Equinix’s IBX data centers will enable the business Ethernet provider to bring innovative service offerings to its 27,000 enterprise customers and extend its reach to more than 4,000 prospective partners, customers and suppliers of digital services through the Equinix Marketplace, a service connecting digital services buyers and sellers.

Jim Poole, general manager for global networks and mobility at Equinix said, "With Equinix, tw telecom is able to propagate its offering to a broader set of customers and penetrate new markets by directly connecting to the robust ecosystems residing in Platform Equinix.”

tw telecom, along with Equinix, is currently on-site at the Pacific Telecommunications Council (News - Alert) conference taking place through Wednesday, Jan. 18, in Honolulu, Hawaii. For more information, click here.

tw telecom is a Gold sponsor of ITEXPO East 2012. To be held Jan. 31- Feb. 3 at the Miami Beach Convention Center in Miami, Fla., ITEXPO (News - Alert) is the world’s premier IP communications event. Visit tw telecom in booth #322. For more information on registering for ITEXPO, click here. Stay in touch with everything happening at ITEXPO… Follow us on Twitter.

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Jamie Epstein