Colt Technology Services has partnered with Relativity Networks and Network Planning Solutions (NPS) to test out a hollow core fiber (HCF) deployment in London.

The U.K. digital infrastructure company worked with Relativity and NPS to successfully complete a ChronoCore HCF proof of concept connecting two Colt network locations in central London.

U.S.-based Relativity Networks provided its ChronoCore hollow-core fiber within Colt's network, while NPS supported the installation and validation work.

This HCF is now live within Colt's infrastructure, with the company noting that the deployment "marks an important step towards making ChronoCore available for hyperscaler, neoscaler and enterprise customers with demanding AI, cloud, and data-intensive workloads."

Hollow core fiber is seen as a potentially transformational upgrade from traditional fiber due to its design. HCF features an air-filled center channel that is surrounded by a ring of glass tubes, akin to a honeycomb pattern. The design allows for higher capacity with minimized chromatic dispersion, while light is able to travel significantly faster.

ChronoCore HCF is tipped to reduce latency by around 30%, which could enable applications to respond more quickly and efficiently, while giving organizations greater flexibility in where they place data centers and digital infrastructure. These latency improvements are seen as a key fixture in supporting AI workloads.

The technology is not expected to replace conventional fiber, but rather be used along some of the most performance-critical routes such as between hyperscaler and neoscaler AI infrastructure locations.

This could be between data centers, or between AI training and inference clusters, between cloud regions, financial trading locations, major network hubs, and for ultra-low-latency enterprise applications.

"As AI and increasingly data-intensive applications reshape the digital economy, we're continuously exploring new technologies and partnerships that can help them stay ahead. This proof of concept is an exciting example of how we can deliver the performance, flexibility and efficiency they'll need to achieve their future ambitions," said Joe Scattareggia, EVP, infrastructure and connectivity sales, Colt.

Danny Preston, founder and CEO of NPS, added: “This live central London deployment is an important step in moving HCF from technical potential into operational network infrastructure. Working with Colt and Relativity Networks, NPS successfully installed, spliced, tested and validated ChronoCore within a complex, established metropolitan network. It demonstrates that the specialist expertise and deployment processes are in place for operators and customers to begin realizing the latency, capacity and network design benefits of HCF now.”

HCF has been a key focus of Relativity Networks under the leadership of its founder Jason Eichenholz. The company has been working closely with Italian optical cable manufacturer Prysmian, with both companies claiming in July to have produced their highest-density HCF cable to date.

Relativity's ChronoCore HCF is produced at Prysmian's facility in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, and cabled at Prysmian's plant in Claremont, North Carolina. Couplers, fiber characterization, and installation training are performed in Orlando, Florida.

"It demonstrates that our hollow core fiber can be successfully integrated into established network infrastructure and opens new possibilities for data center placement and network optimization. By reducing latency while supporting high-bandwidth transmission, HCF gives operators and their customers greater freedom in how they design and scale future networks," added Kevin Reynolds, executive director, Relativity Networks.