BT International expands Global Fabric with a choice of integrated security service edge solutions

• BT’s AI-ready networking platform now offers optimised connectivity to security service edge (SSE) solutions from Cisco, Fortinet, Netskope and Zscaler.
• The new capability can help customers rapidly scale use of AI agents, cloud applications and autonomous digital workflows.

BT International today announced the expansion of its Global Fabric network-as-a-service (NaaS) platform with a choice of security service edge (SSE) solutions to support multinational customers’ rapid deployment and scaling of AI agents, cloud applications and autonomous digital workflows.

As organisations adopt AI at scale, traffic patterns across the network are dramatically changing. A growing number of users, AI agents, applications and devices are demanding more bandwidth, lower latency and access to multiple clouds from more locations. Many CIOs now find that traditional network and security architectures lack the performance, scale, visibility and control needed to support these new demands.

By providing optimised connectivity between Global Fabric and SSE solutions from leading vendors Cisco, Fortinet, Netskope and Zscaler, BT International enables customers to select more predictable, high-performance routes for their traffic, improving application responsiveness and delivering the best user experience.

It does this thanks to Global Fabric’s cloud-centric architecture. Unlike traditional SSE deployments, where traffic may cross many third-party internet networks before reaching a security inspection point, Global Fabric provides optimised connectivity to the vendors’ security and cloud ecosystems at a choice of strategic cloud locations around the world.

The new capability extends Global Fabric’s growing ecosystem of networking, cloud and security services. It is the latest step in the expansion of the platform, which offers consistent security, optimised application performance and proactive network management in a single controlled environment built on a brand-new network underlay.

Yash Jethani, Principal Analyst, ISG, said: “The convergence of networking and security is ultimately about enabling trust at scale. Global enterprises increasingly require a cloud-delivered operating model that provides resilient connectivity, consistent security enforcement and simplified operations across users, applications, AI agents and digital ecosystems worldwide. The ability to deliver that trust consistently across markets will be a key competitive differentiator.”

Matt Swinden, managing director, strategy & product, BT International, said: “Agentic AI is changing what organisations need from networks. AI agents depend on secure, reliable access to applications, data and cloud services in real time, creating new demands for performance, resilience and security. By bringing together SSE with Global Fabric, we're helping customers build an AI-ready network foundation upon which they can scale innovation and automation and choose the best security services to meet their needs.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

BT International managed SASE services

BT International works with a carefully selected ecosystem of leading secure access service edge (SASE) technology partners and has deep experience delivering managed security services at scale, defending its own network and customers against thousands of cyber threats every day. SASE includes SD-WAN and SSE solutions.

By integrating SSE with Global Fabric, BT International is offering customers:

• Enhanced SD-WAN & SSE (SASE) service quality via Internet exchange point (IXP) peering - strengthening BT’s SD-WAN internet breakout performance by minimising path latency and propagation delay.
• Stronger vendor ecosystem integration - peering enables tight integration with infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers, SaaS providers and security vendors.
• Improved network resilience and path diversity between Global Fabric sites and SSE PoPs - delivered via a scalable global interconnect fabric and moving towards a deterministic self-healing network.
• Improved quality of experience for end users through a performance-focused minimised data path (intelligent routing).
• Consistent global security and networking experience - the same experience regardless of user location, with predictable latency and security policy application for traffic on Global Fabric.
• The ability to avoid many third-party ISPs, providing an optimal path and associated benefits that the Global Fabric platform offers.
• A choice of BT managed SASE solutions from leading vendors, with a cloud-native architecture, consistent security, optimised application performance and proactive network management in a single environment controlled by BT International’s Global Fabric-SASE managed service.