Global backbone provider GNM has completed the modernisation of its point of presence (PoP) in Sofia, deploying the Arista 7800R3 — a carrier-grade platform with native 400G capability. The company announced on Tuesday, August 12, 2025, that the upgrade is part of its ongoing strategy to strengthen its optical backbone and meet increasing interconnection demands across South-Eastern Europe.
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Path Diversity and Low-Latency Performance
The Sofia node now serves as a key hub for high-throughput transit traffic from the Balkans, Turkey, the Middle East and the Caucasus. It features two fully independent DWDM paths — one via Belgrade and another through Romania — designed to provide path diversity, automated failover and consistent low-latency performance. The site is fully integrated into GNM's meshed DWDM backbone, offering onward connectivity to major European hubs including Bratislava, Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Vienna, Prague, Warsaw and Stockholm.
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Expanded Service Portfolio for Clients
Customers at the Sofia site have access to a range of services, including high-capacity 100G and 400G DWDM transport, direct and remote access to GNM-IX, IP Transit with BGP community-based policy control, and Layer 2 services backed by stringent service-level guarantees.
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"The Sofia upgrade is an important step in the ongoing development of GNM's core infrastructure in the region. One of the first customers to use the new platform was a European network operator that provisioned a 100G DWDM service over both available paths, along with a GNM-IX peering connection. The deployment delivered a measurable reduction in latency to Frankfurt, around 18 percent, and significantly improved recovery times during incidents. It's a clear example of how infrastructure investment directly enhances service performance for our clients," said Alex Surkov, Head of Development at GNM.
