The company’s history dates back to 1997 when the enterprise Zone Systems broke the state monopolies in the Scandinavian telecommunications markets. “A transmission link between Sweden and Denmark was established,” explains Peter Olsen, manager of GlobalConnect and in this position for nine years.
“When Zone Systems was restructured and separated into two businesses, GlobalConnect took responsibility for telecommunication services and fiber optic networks.” Ever since, the company has been fast-growing and profitable. “We have kept our business unobtrusive,” states the manager. “In the beginning, we mainly cooperated with wholesale clients to be able to develop our network without attracting too much attention. For five years, we have become more visible on the market, since we decided to work for major cooperations, as well. By now, we maintain a dark fiber network of more than 12,000 km in Denmark, Sweden and northern Germany.”
Over time, GlobalConnect also integrated transmission platforms and other elements into its structures. “One of our core competences is found in a Carrier Ethernet platform,” says Mr. Olsen. “It provides the basis for most of our products and solutions and offers a lot of advantages over other, more traditional technologies. In addition, it can be easily integrated into fiber connections. Therefore, the Carrier Ethernet harmonizes perfectly with our large fiber network.”
At the present time, a capable team of 195 employees at two locations in Denmark and Germany guarantee smooth operations. “With our comprehensive product and service portfolio, we were able to generate turnover of 65 million EUR in the past year,” explains the manager. “Apart from our headquarters in Taastrup, we maintain a subsidiary in Hamburg, Germany, in order to provide optimal services for our growing presence on the German market.”
Customers from various segments rely on GlobalConnect’s extensive range of products and services. “Our dark fiber network was completely installed by us,” states Mr. Olsen. “For this reason, we always have access to our own infrastructure and have the possibility to maintain and expand it quickly. Furthermore, our data centers are located in Denmark. We can guarantee that all customer data is stored there.”
Aside from its 12,000 km fiber network in Denmark, Sweden and Germany, GlobalConnect supplies telecom networks with connectivity and provides voice over Internet as well as cloud services for corporate customers. “Our data center covers an area of 7,000 m²,” says the manager. “The majority of its capacities is rented to clients; some of it is used for our own internal processes.”
Needless to say, this widespread portfolio attracts customers from many sectors. “At the moment, we cooperate mainly with big telecommunication companies in Denmark that have no possibilities to fall back on their own backbone,” explains Mr. Olsen. “For five years, our target groups has also included the top 1,000 players on the domestic market. We focus primarily on this specific audience since we provide the capacities and network stability that large enterprises, for example banks, rely on. In combination with these services, we offer international solutions via subcontractors – many of our large clients operate on a global basis and prefer services from a single source.”
In Germany, GlobalConnect is subject to a less mature market in terms of corporate customers. “On this market, we concentrate on wholesale clients,” states the manager. “Still, about two thirds of our annual revenues are generated in Sweden and Denmark. For the time to come, we aim to increase our capacities in Germany since we find a lot of potential, including large population numbers, there. Our infrastructure in northern Germany will be expanded to provide perfect conditions for our foreign customers.”
However, in terms of marketing, the company refrains from large-scale campaigns. “We do not see the necessity for marketing activities,” says Mr. Olsen. “While focusing on large corporate clients about five years ago, a marketing department was established, but we prefer very direct personal contact.” With these promising structures, GlobalConnect does not hesitate to name its factors of success. “Having a 12,000 km fiber network is absolutely unique,” explains the manager. “We offer easy connectivity for our customers and have 24/7 control of the value chain. Another unique selling proposition is our choice to insource our network operation centers. Other competitors are not able to offer these services to such an extent.”
When asked about the company’s future plans and its predicted position on the domestic and foreign market, GlobalConnect takes an optimistic view into its entrepreneurial future. “We aim to continue our growth on the German market,” states Mr. Olsen. “There, we still face large market opportunities and will therefore expand our fiber network. Especially in large cities, that is a lot of competition.”
Despite the fact that Denmark is already covered by GlobalConnect’s network, the company wants to increase its popularity on the domestic market. “We aim to move up in the value chain,” the manager sums up. “By offering additional services like a corporate cloud and guaranteed data storage in Denmark, we see good chances to gain further market share.”