Why Is Carrier Neutrality So Important?

Ben Gonyea

February 25, 2014

In selecting a provider for a company to outsource their data centers to, or to use as an interconnection hub, businesses have many options. While looking for those options, a term you’re likely to hear is “carrier neutrality,” or “carrier-neutral data center.” When you hear carrier neutrality come up in a conversation about a data center, you should pay attention—carrier neutrality is an essential factor in choosing the right business for your outsourcing.

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

In a non-carrier-neutral environment, a customer only has one option for service, and few options for connectivity and colocation. Consumers in a data center tied to one specific carrier can easily fall victim to high prices, limited bandwidth, and lack of competition, as in that case, they’re at the mercy of whatever provider the data center is tied to.

Carrier-neutral facilities, on the other hand, offer many advantages, not the least of which is cost-efficiency. In evaluating the total cost of switching over to an outsourced data center, carrier-neutral facilities tend to be in areas with increased competition and more connectivity, which lowers prices and provides better service to the end user. Because the data center isn’t limited to one service provider, all providers in the area are naturally encouraged to offer cost-efficiency and value, ultimately producing a better product for the customer. What’s more, the increased flexibility and opportunity present in terms of colocation and interconnection—carrier-neutral facilities provide more capabilities in those areas than any non-carrier-neutral data center—pay dividends for the customer over time.

Carrier neutrality, then, is an essential factor to look for when outsourcing your data center or seeking interconnection services, as in the end, it provides the benefit of both cost-efficiency and a greater degree of connectivity than you could find anywhere else. If your provider isn’t carrier-neutral, it may very well be time to look for another provider who is.

All of Telx’s data centers are carrier-neutral, providing customers many options of connectivity to many carriers and options for their business. Being able to connect with multiple carriers in our data centers enables redundancy, optimal uptime, and cost-efficiency, all of which are great benefits to any business seeking to outsource their data center. If you’d like to learn more about any of Telx’s carrier-neutral solutions for your business, please reach out to us via the contact page of our site, or by Facebook or Twitter.