On January 18, 2022, the Pacific Telecommunications Council (PTC) and moderator Anthony Rossabi, CEO of Recovery Point Systems, welcomed industry-leading panelists to present “Data Center Operating and Investment Perspectives.” The PTC acts as a membership organization consisting of over 300 Telecommunications and Information Technology companies, including DE-CIX Management GmbH, which share connections and insights to spur overall industry growth.
Panelists discussed how Data Centers operate as the focal point for growth in cloud connectivity and 5G capabilities. The panel was headlined by Harald Summa, CEO of DE-CIX, the foremost Internet Exchange operator worldwide, and fellow industry experts Todd Coleman, CEO and President of eStruxture Data Centers, Peter Hopper, Managing Director of Digital Bridge, and Raul Martynek, CEO of DataBank.
Anthony and panelists began by presenting the three types of Data Centers, wholesale, enterprise, and edge, along with the respective major players. By breaking down what makes each one effective and unique in the eyes of the panelists, they pondered the question: Why are Data Centers and investment in them important in driving industry growth? The answer, they found, lies in Cloud connectivity and the increasing demand for 5G availability. Since 2016, Cloud Data Center traffic grew from 88% to 96% of global traffic, stemming from both public and private Data Centers. Harald Summa presented the group with DE-CIX as a Service, which offers a cloud connectivity platform for companies to reach customers faster, safer, and more efficiently. DE-CIX gives companies relief by knowing they are capable of handling this increased cloud traffic.
With the industry market projected to meet a $143.4 billion valuation over the next 5 years, investment NOW is key to match this accelerated growth. The rapid gain in popularity of 5G will require a portion of this investment because Centers must partially transition away from LTE and other mobile subscription technologies as well. To ground these ever-increasing levels of financing, panelists broke down the methods many companies are transitioning towards in order to share or cut costs when investing in Data Centers, such as Grienfield and capital recycling. Finally, discussion ended by highlighting that Data Centers truly are at the center of this forward motion, reaching everyday business and personal life.
