By Rich Miller, Data Center Frontier
November 9, 2017

When it comes to fiber in the Northeast, just about all paths lead through Manhattan. Two emerging colocation providers are seeking to change that.

Crosslake Fibre this week announced plans to build a new submarine fiber optic cable from Wall, New Jersey to Long Island. The 60-mile cable will provide a low-latency direct connection between the NJFX (New Jersey Fiber Exchange) colocation facility in Wall, N.J. and the 1025Connect data center in Westbury, N.Y.

“The need for a Manhattan bypass route is growing more critical with increased network congestion and weather-related threats in the region,” said Mike Cunningham, Chief Executive Officer of Crosslake Fibre. “We selected these endpoints as they are increasingly important hubs for transoceanic connectivity and provide a variety of network connectivity options for customers. As additional transoceanic cables carrying much of the world’s Internet traffic land in the region, and growth on existing cables continues, new domestic connectivity onward from the cable landing stations is important.”

NJFX and 1025Connect are part of a trend in which colocation providers are building data centers at the sites where undersea fiber optic cables arrive in North America. Cable landing sites historically have consisted of a manhole near the beach where they come ashore and sometimes a small facility operated by the phone company or cable owner.

That’s because the cable landings served as a pitstop, from which fiber routes carry the data to Manhattan carrier hotels like 60 Hudson Street, 111 8th Avenue and 32 Avenue of the Americas. These highly-connected buildings provide access to dozens and even hundreds of networks to move data wherever it needs to go.

Colo Meets Cable Landings

NJFX and 1025Connect are among a new breed of service provider seeking to build interconnection ecosystems at the cable landings, offering a way around the more expensive “toll gates” of Manhattan. As content providers and cloud companies seek new ways to move data around the world, it is creating new market niches for colocation and interconnection specialists. Similar projects are underway in Virginia Beach, Boca Raton in Florida and Moncton, New Brunswick.

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