Data Center POST Interview with Dan Lunde, Managing Director of 1025Connect

By Contributing Editor, Kathy Xu

Dan Lunde, Managing Director of 1025Connect has called 1025 Old Country Road (1025OCR) in Westbury, New York home since he joined LIDARC (Long Island Data & Recovery Center) in October 2008 as Vice President of Sales. Dan held the same role when LIDARC was acquired in 2010 by ancotel USA, LLC. In late 2012, when ancotel GmbH was acquired by Equinix, Dan acquired ancotel USA, which is now called 1025Connect. Dan has been deeply entrenched in the Long Island and New York City metro area telecom scene for more than 20 years and his vast knowledge of global networks, carrier hotels and colocation facilities has made him a leader in the industry.

Data Center POST recently had the opportunity to sit down with Dan and discuss the emerging trends he anticipates impacting the telecom industry, new developments at 1025Connect, and his company’s attendance at International Telecoms Week 2018, taking place May 6-9 in Chicago.

Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: What technologies do you see changing and shaping the industry and how?

1025Connect, Dan Lunde Answer: We’re seeing more small cell deployment with 5G being the current rage. We’re also observing a surge in Big Data analytics and an increased interest in edge networking as an affordable, resilient and efficient data center model. This is due in part to the Internet of Things (IoT).

DCP-KX Q: What broad trends do you see in telecoms in the next 12 months?

1025Connect-DL A: Across the industry, we anticipate the continued migration to the cloud and an increase in the use of SD-WAN and virtualization across multiple platforms and locations. We are also seeing enterprise customers combining their existing colocation infrastructure with public and private cloud services to create a hybrid environment while upgrading their legacy hardware and systems.

In the New York metro market, we’re seeing a deviation of the trend of enterprises basing their data center operations and colocation in Manhattan.

We are also seeing enterprise customers combining their existing colocation infrastructure with public and private cloud services to create a hybrid environment while upgrading their legacy hardware and systems.

DCP-KX Q: What are new developments and initiatives that are exciting for your company in 2018?

1025Connect-DL A: Introducing the new Crosslake Fibre system adds another strategic option on the ‘Continental Edge’ and strengthens our position as the easternmost peering point in the New York metro area, providing a truly diverse, subsea Manhattan Bypass route for our customers.

The concept of Crosslake Fibre’s WALL-LI project is to build a new subsea cable from Wall, New Jersey, up to Long Island, with two end points located at the 1025Connect data center and the NJFX Tier 3 colocation campus.

Secondly, DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, has established a New York-area Point-of-Presence (PoP) at 1025Connect. 1025Connect customers will benefit from global, leading peering and Layer 2 connectivity solutions. Set to go live on April 15, the DE-CIX access point provides peering members in New York with direct access to a number of subsea systems and global networks currently located at 1025Connect.

This is a highly anticipated development in that 1025Connect customers now have the opportunity to leverage the capability to deliver a variety of Layer 2 solutions, including DE-CIX’s leading GlobePEER Remote Service. This service provides turnkey connectivity to DE-CIX Frankfurt where more than 900 unique networks connect. Meanwhile, DE-CIX’s New York exchange provides reach to more than 150 unique networks facilitating direct connectivity for North American, Caribbean, Latin American and European networks seeking peering opportunities with content and network providers based in the U.S.

DCP-KX Q: Why is ITW such an important industry event for your company?

1025Connect-DL A: As the largest wholesale telecoms event of the year, ITW is an opportunity to discuss various trends and challenges directly impacting the industry with other global thought-leaders and decision-makers, while offering an exceptional platform to develop high value business opportunities.

DCP-KX: Thank you for your time today and best wishes at ITW, Dan. To learn more about 1025Connect, visit www.1025connect.com, or email CONNECT@1025CONNECT.COM.

To request a meeting with the 1025Connect team at ITW 2018, click here.