Neos Networks locks in 10 more years as Jisc's fibre partner for Janet

Neos Networks has signed a 10-year extension of its partnership with Jisc, keeping the operator's high-capacity fibre infrastructure at the core of the UK's Janet Network for another decade.

The agreement extends an existing relationship between the two organisations. It arrives at a moment when traffic on research and education networks is climbing, driven by growing use of AI, cloud services and data-heavy research across UK institutions.

Janet is the national network that allows researchers and education institutions to share large amounts of data securely. It connects users both within the UK and with international partners, making it a central piece of digital infrastructure for the country's universities and research bodies.

Under the renewed terms, Neos Networks will continue supplying the high-capacity fibre needed to handle rising data traffic. The deal also frames the network as a platform for developments in areas such as AI and quantum computing, where research workloads move vast datasets between people, facilities and computing resources.

What did the two sides say?

Jisc Group CTO Bella Abrams called the agreement a significant milestone. "This agreement represents a significant milestone for the Janet Network," she said. "By extending our partnership with Neos Networks, we are ensuring the long-term stability, scalability, and security of the UK's research and education connectivity."

She added that the deal "gives us the foundation to continue innovating and to support the increasingly complex digital needs of the UK's education and research community."

Neos Networks CEO Lee Myall pointed to the decade ahead as the reason the extension matters now. "Over the next decade, AI, advanced computing and increasingly data-intensive research will drive huge growth in the information institutions need to move quickly and securely between people, facilities and computing resources," Myall said.

"That makes high-capacity, resilient and scalable connectivity increasingly fundamental to the UK's research ambitions," he continued. "By extending our partnership with Jisc for another 10 years, we're helping ensure Janet has the network foundation it needs to keep scaling as those demands evolve, supporting world-leading research and innovation across the UK."

Why the deal fits Neos Networks' wider push

The Jisc extension adds to a run of activity for Neos Networks in the UK fibre market. The company recently emerged as the preferred bidder for Network Rail's fibre upgrade, a deal that would put its infrastructure at the heart of one of the country's largest transport-network modernisation programmes.

It has also extended metropolitan area network coverage, building MANs across four UK cities. Together with the Jisc renewal, these moves signal a strategy built on long-term anchor tenants, including public sector and critical infrastructure customers, rather than purely consumer-facing broadband.

For Jisc, the appeal of a decade-long commitment is predictability. Research traffic patterns are shifting as AI model training and data-intensive science become routine parts of academic work, and a stable fibre foundation removes one variable from institutional planning over that horizon.

The extension also lands as European operators debate how the continent's next fibre investment cycle should be built. Neos Networks' own leadership has argued publicly that Europe's next fibre cycle must be built around demand, a position reflected in the shape of this contract: capacity growth tied to named, measurable traffic drivers rather than speculative build-out.

What comes next

Over the coming ten years, Neos Networks will carry Janet's growing traffic as AI, advanced computing and quantum research scale up across UK institutions, with both partners betting that demand for high-capacity, secure data movement will keep rising on the education and research network.