Colocation providers Equinix, Digital Realty and NTT Communications have seen a growth in colo revenue which surpassed overall market growth in 2016.
Attributed to acquisitions and organic growth, Equinix, Digital Realty and NTT grew colocation revenues by 28%, outpacing the 9% growth seen by the overall colo market.
According to Synergy Research Group, the other top ten operators saw colo revenues grow 12% in 2016, while those providers ranked 11-20 saw 8% growth. Notable companies who surpassed average growth rate included China Telecom, QTS and KDDI-Telehouse.
Looking at regional growth, the
APAC region was found to have the highest growth rate in the past year, with China, Hong Kong and India the countries seeing the highest growth rate.
Regionally, Equinix was found to have hold of the market in EMEA, with Digital Realty leading the market in North America and NTT taking the lion’s share of the maket in APAC.
Dividing the market into wholesale and retail, Equinix was found to lead the latter, with Digital Realty holding a similar position in wholesale.
The findings from Synergy highlight how consolidation was a major driving force in the growth of the market in 2016 – a trend which will continue in 2017 with Equinix acquiring 29 data centres from Verizon.
“In some senses colocation is following the same path as the cloud with market power gradually being concentrated in the hands of a few focused and deep-pocketed operators,” said John Dinsdale, a Chief Analyst and Research Director at Synergy Research Group.
“In both cases the ability to run large data center operations effectively and efficiently is vital to success and companies that are too diversified or unfocused will struggle. And the similarities don’t stop there – as cloud usage continues to explode, colocation growth opportunities are pulled along in the slipstream.”
