Telehouse enters South African colocation market

December 2, 2009

Telehouse enters South African colocation market

In a move demonstrating that the liberalisation of the South African telecommunications market has piqued international interest, KDDI-owned Telehouse is establishing its carrier neutral data centre facilities in the country.

Telehouse was the first company to pioneer the carrier neutral data centre market globally. The business started in 1988 in Docklands, London and has grown to now house The London Internet Exchange (LINX), over 60 carriers and over 700 ISPs, service providers, information and communication technology companies and enterprise customers in London. It has over 20 data centres worldwide, spanning UK, France, USA and in Asia and is owned by KDDI, the world’s 10th largest carrier headquartered in Tokyo. This expansion into South Africa is the first entry by a major Japanese telco into the African continent.

Telehouse selected Teraco Data Environments (‘Teraco’) as the home for its facilities. Under the agreement, dedicated data centre space within Teraco Cape Town and Johannesburg will be opened under the Telehouse brand and will be known as ‘Telehouse Johannesburg’ and ‘Telehouse Cape Town’ respectively. The facilities will be operated, supported and maintained by Teraco to Telehouse’s global operating standards, which include detailed attention to power, cooling, security and customer-focused operations.

Lex van Wyk, Managing Director of Teraco, comments: “Telehouse has an impressive heritage in the data centre industry, a very strong international carrier customer base and a reputation for high levels of reliability and security. We have built a unique facility in South Africa and we look forward, through Telehouse’s global relationships, to further extending the choice of carriers, networks and service providers available to customers within our facilities.”

Discussing the strategic partnership Andrew Fray, Business Development Director at Telehouse said: “This is a major step forward for Telehouse as we seek to establish our footprint in Africa. Teraco is an ideal partner as it is the first carrier neutral and supplier neutral data centre operator in South Africa. We can now offer Telehouse customers secure managed colocation space in two major cities and a one-stop-shop for those seeking space in the UK, South Africa and Telehouse locations around the world. This is a great opportunity for carriers, ISPs, ASPs and enterprise customers to establish a firm foothold in Africa to support their critical ICT infrastructures.”

Teraco's Cape Town site was opened in February 2009 and the Johannesburg site will open in early 2010. Both sites offer superior levels of power, cooling, back-up and security and room for further expansion. The spaces are also very economical compared to some of the premium rates levied in Europe. Telehouse Johannesburg and Cape Town will be attractive to any multinational company with physical operations in Southern Africa, particularly as the telecoms market deregulates and diversifies, thereby making South Africa a natural communications hub in the region.

“With deregulation, we can predict rapid evolution of the market over the next two years. Already we are seeing significant activity in the run up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup and now is a good time for companies to build a reliable point of presence here,” concluded Van Wyk.

About Telehouse:

Telehouse offers data centre facilities and connectivity, providing a secure and resilient platform for mission critical IT systems. Established in 1988, Telehouse became Europe’s first purpose-built neutral colocation provider. Today, the company is at the heart of the Internet and telecommunications infrastructure, serving over 700 major customers worldwide, from small start-ups to multinationals across a wide range of industries. It is a subsidiary of Japanese corporation KDDI, a Global 300 company and, with its sister company Telehouse America, is able to offer a global network covering Europe, America and Asia. For more information, please visit www.telehouse.net