Zayo Europe has teamed up with dark fiber operator Reintel to launch a high-capacity network across the Iberian Peninsula.

The partnership will see the pair create a 400G-enabled 2,100-mile (3,500km) network connecting key regional data hubs, including Madrid, Lisbon, Barcelona, Bilbao, and Sines.

Facilities across Spain and Portugal will be able to use it to connect to Zayo Europe’s wider continental network, which already spans some 600 data centers across 13 countries.

“By extending our network through [Reintel’s] low latency, high availability fiber routes, we’re enabling enterprises, data centers, and carriers across Iberia to access our extensive high-performance connectivity that underpins Europe’s innovation economy,” said Colman Deegan, CEO at Zayo Europe.

Zayo Europe’s Reintel team-up comes hot on the heels of its move into the German market. Announced last July, the vendor enlisted Ciena’s optical technology to support the 400G network, with potential plans to later boost network bandwidth speeds to 800G and 1.6 Tbps (1.6T).

The fiber vendor said its latest expansion, meanwhile, will provide network diversity and strengthen connectivity options for businesses and carriers operating in the region.

“This partnership will empower data centers and businesses across Spain and Portugal to keep pace with rising data demands and ultimately, strengthen Europe’s digital backbone,” said Francisco J. Blanca Patón, CEO at Reintel. “We look forward to what can be achieved together through 2026 and beyond.”

Zayo’s Iberian partner is Spain’s largest independent dark fiber operator, boasting a network that spans more than 32,000 miles (54,000km). It’s majority owned by Redeia (formerly the Red Eléctrica Group), an electric grid operator part owned by the Spanish state. Investment giant U.S. investment giant KKR took a 49 percent stake in Reintel in 2021, in a deal worth $1.1 billion, with Redeia using the capital to finance grid infrastructure upgrade initiatives.