Why is Carrier Neutrality So Important?

Harm Joosse, Global Head of Strategy & Business Segments, Service Providers, Digital Realty

August 28, 2023

When a company is considering outsourcing its data centres or using a service as an interconnection hub, there are numerous providers to choose from. During this selection process, one important concept often encountered is 'carrier neutrality,' also referred to as a 'carrier-neutral data centre.' Pay attention when you hear carrier neutrality come up in a conversation about a data centre. Choosing a carrier neutral facility is essential in choosing the right business for your outsourcing.

What is a carrier neutral data centre and carrier neutral colocation?

Carrier neutrality refers to carrier neutral data centres, or data centres that allow interconnection between many interconnection providers and colocation customers. Carrier neutral data centres are not tied to any one service provider (telecommunications, ISP, or other), providing diversity and flexibility for the client seeking service.

Through colocation in a carrier neutral data centre, customers can interconnect with a large range of connectivity suppliers. Businesses can outsource costly IT processes by using this type of data centre, freeing teams up to concentrate on other tasks.

When searching for data centres, companies should check if they can interconnect with customers and partners, and if they have access to their preferred carriers. They can also check the availability of other network providers in case of service expansions.

A carrier-neutral data centre with a high-density of networks can offer options based on your company-specific requirements.

What are the benefits of a carrier neutral data centre?

By offering access to multiple network providers, carrier neutral data centres eliminate the constraints of relying on a single provider. This flexibility allows businesses to optimise connectivity, reduce costs, and improve service reliability. Below are some key benefits of choosing a carrier neutral data centre for your business.

A carrier neutral facility brings efficiency

In a non-carrier neutral environment, a customer will often only have one or few options for connectivity services. Consumers in this situation can easily fall victim to high prices, limited bandwidth, and lack of competition because they’re at the mercy of the provider the data centre is tied to.

A carrier neutral facility is more cost-efficient in areas with high competition and connectivity, which reduces prices and improves service. The absence of a single service provider encourages all local providers to offer better value and efficiency, resulting in superior customer products. Additionally, the enhanced flexibility and opportunities in colocation and interconnection at carrier neutral facilities lead to long-term customer benefits compared to non-carrier neutral data centres.

This competitive environment, driven by carrier neutrality, fosters innovation and ensures businesses can access the most advanced, cost-effective solutions through carrier neutral networking options.

A carrier neutral facility increases dependability

Companies using carrier neutral data centres benefit from a much more dependable service, protecting their revenue and reputation.

In a modern, connected world where uptime is critical, a carrier neutral facility gives businesses peace of mind. Customers can connect to other suppliers with agreed SLAs, benefiting from 99.999% uptime. By combining multiple ISPs and network providers, carrier neutral colocation data centres offer redundancy and reliability – ensuring maximum uptime even if one supplier is experiencing issues.

There is also the added assurance of cross connects. If your business depends on high speeds to react to ever-changing situations, cross connects offer direct connections between servers. This helps to support interconnection requirements without increasing costs. Likewise, cross-connects allow businesses to bypass public internet, making their connection quicker and more secure.

Being carrier neutral ensures scalability

As businesses grow, their IT and connectivity needs change. A carrier neutral data centre allows companies to choose network providers that most suit those needs. When requirements change, companies can add additional network connections to be able to extend their services.

The overall benefit of a carrier neutral data centre is that they put the power in businesses’ hands. This approach, supported by carrier neutral colocation services, enables businesses to scale efficiently while maintaining flexibility in their connectivity choices. They have the freedom to choose suppliers based on investment, reliability, or scalability.

Carrier-neutral colocation supports hybrid and multi-cloud strategies

With the increasing reliance on cloud technologies, organisations require flexible and scalable infrastructure solutions that allow them to adapt to changing needs.

Carrier-neutral colocation also supports hybrid and multi-cloud strategies, enabling seamless connections to cloud service providers through multiple carriers in networking. This makes a carrier-neutral data centre an ideal choice for organisations aiming to future-proof their IT infrastructure while maintaining cost efficiency.

Whether it's for disaster recovery, cloud migration, or global expansion, the adaptability of carrier-neutral colocation ensures that businesses are well-positioned to succeed in every environment.

Carrier neutrality means connectivity

Carrier neutrality is an essential factor to look for when outsourcing your data centre or seeking interconnection services, as it provides the benefit of both cost-efficiency and a greater degree of connectivity than you could find anywhere else.

All of our data centres are carrier neutral, providing customers with many options of connectivity to many carriers and options for their business. Being able to connect with multiple carriers in our data centres enables redundancy, optimal uptime, and cost-efficiency, all of which are great benefits to any business seeking to outsource their data centre. If you’d like to learn more about any of our carrier-neutral solutions for your business, please contact us.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a carrier-neutral facility?

A carrier-neutral facility is a data centre that isn’t tied to a single service provider. This allows businesses to choose from multiple connectivity providers for their colocation and networking needs.

How does a carrier-neutral data centre differ from a traditional data centre?

Traditional data centres may be owned and operated by a single telecom provider, limiting connectivity options. Carrier-neutral data centres offer a variety of network providers for greater flexibility and redundancy.

How does a carrier-neutral data centre improve connectivity?

A carrier-neutral data centre offers access to a variety of carriers, enabling businesses to select providers based on performance, cost, or reliability.

How does a carrier-neutral colocation strategy reduce risk?

With multiple providers available, businesses can build redundancy into their networks, minimising the risk of downtime or service disruptions caused by relying on a single carrier.