The Cost of Carrier-Neutral Colocation

When evaluating colocation centers businesses should evaluate whether you want a carrier-specific or carrier-neutral facility. The differences between these two types of facilities can be significant, and this single factor can have an effect on the cost of both your colocation and your network solution. In a carrier-specific data center, your Internet connection is limited to the single provider offered in the facility. With this option, you may pay less to host your servers, but you could end up spending a lot more on your Internet connection. It’s a good idea to think about this extra cost when comparing data centers, as choosing the wrong data center for network connectivity can cause the price to skyrocket. The main issue with this type of facility is that you don’t have the ability to choose between multiple carriers for your connectivity. In the long run, choosing a carrier-specific colocation center could potentially cost your business more money than necessary. Alternatively, some facilities adopt a carrier-neutral approach to connectivity by offering multiple carrier options to choose from. To achieve this, a colocation facility will connect to multiple Internet backbones so that they may offer as many providers as possible. Carrier-neutral facilities are strategically located in areas of dense fiber-optic carriers, making it easy for telecom carriers to connect to the facility with access to underground, concrete-encased duct banks that enter via diverse paths. This provides choice and competition for businesses selecting a network solution. When you host your servers in a data center that offers a variety of different providers, you may actually end up spending less on your overall solution. Cost can vary among Internet providers, so the benefit of hosting your servers in a carrier-neutral facility is that you have the option to shop around for the best price on Internet service, which can save your business a significant amount of money. This may justify spending a slightly higher amount to rent the space in your colocation center. A carrier-neutral data center can also offer direct access to carriers through private fiber networks. When a facility offers a wide range of choices for its customers, customers can select a best-in-class carrier that fits their needs, which gives them the leverage to get the best price. In general, it is better to go with a carrier-neutral facility because it encourages competition among providers, driving the cost of your network solution down. Plus, when a colocation facility provides direct connections to redundant, high-capacity fiber networks, they can guarantee 100% network uptime.