Colt now operates 16 data centres across 10 countries, more than any other single European operator.

COLT has increased its data centre capacity in response to growing customer demand for managed services, particularly from the financial services sector. SkandiaBank, one of the new customers at COLT's Copenhagen centre, is using the facility as part of its test and development environment, whilst in Lisbon, COLT is already providing disaster recovery services to a global financial organisation.

The new capacity brings COLT's total data centre footprint to 98,500 sqm across Europe, with 1,200 sqm in Copenhagen and 350 sqm in Lisbon. Both centres have been built to comply with stringent security standards, whilst to increase energy efficiency, COLT is using 'free cooling'. This technique uses fresh air to feed the centre's cooling system directly when outside temperatures are sufficiently low, so minimising the energy requirement of the system.

COLT will now offer a range of managed services to local businesses, including managed email, storage and back-up and disaster recovery capabilities, as well as network and facilities services.

"We are seeing real demand for managed services and data centre capacity across Europe at the moment, especially in response to business continuity and regulatory compliance needs," said Lakh Jemmett, Managing Director, Major Enterprise Division at COLT. "With 16 centres directly integrated with our European fibre network and a growing services portfolio, COLT is uniquely positioned to provide European businesses with highly robust IT and communication services to support their critical business operations.

"We take our responsibilities to our customers and to the environment very seriously. As we continue to extend our data centre capabilities in Europe, we remain committed to investing in the most efficient, effective and sustainable technologies at our disposal."

Today's development follows an announcement made aade in May that COLT will be building a new 8,500 sqm facility in the UK to fulfil a contract to provide data centre and managed services to a global business customer, the company's largest ever contract. The first part of this facility will open in late 2007, making it COLT's seventeenth live data centre.