During the past two years, colocation operators have added significant amounts of new retail capacity, not just in well -known telecom hub cities, but also in a number of less established markets, according to new data from TeleGeography’s Colocation Database.
Austin, Texas experienced the largest gain in retail colocation space, with gross floor space increasing nine fold between 2010 and 2012. Austin’s colocation capacity surge was driven by two colocation providers, CyrusOne and Data Foundry, which both constructed enormous facilities with more than 1 million square feet of combined floor space, says the research firm.
Bangalore, India gained 937,000 square feet of new colocation space, driven almost entirely by Tulip’s launch of a massive new data center in September 2011. Hong Kong, which is emerging as a major Asian colocation hub, saw a 232 percent increase in retail capacity (980,000 square feet). Capacity expansion in Hong Kong was driven chiefly by HKCOLO and Equinix, which launched major new facilities between 2010 and 2012.
Growth rates in more established markets are more subdued, but the volume of new colocation capacity added in these cities is impressive, says TeleGeography. For example, colocation space in New York City expanded 453,000 square feet between 2010 and 2012, or approximately 15 percent. While this growth rate is modest, the amount of new retail colocation space constructed in New York in just two years exceeds the aggregate 366,000 feet of retail colo space in the entire Houston metropolitan area. Other established markets that experienced large increases in colocation space were Amsterdam, where gross floor space increased nearly 340,000 square feet, and Tokyo, where colocation providers added 230,000 square feet of new space.
“Both established and emerging colocation markets continue to see new data center launches as 2012 draws to a close,” said TeleGeography analyst Jon Hjembo. “Of particular note is London, which will gain 160,000 square feet of new space by year-end as Infinity and Cable & Wireless Worldwide complete data center builds.”
