After a quiet spell following the acquisition and integration of Sidera, Lightower has made another inorganic move at last. They’ve acquired ColocationZone out in Chicago, giving their metro customers there some new options for connectivity.
ColocationZone operates a data center in 725 South Wells in downtown Chicago, and specifically the Meet Me Room in that facility. Thus, Lightower will be taking over the MMR for 725 South Wells in a move reminiscent of what Zayo has been doing with zColo in recent years.
Chicago is Lightower’s western front, and the only piece of their physical infrastructure that isn’t directly connected to the rest. It’s always seemed inevitable to me that they would fill in the map between their east coast depth and the Windy City inorganically, but thus far they’ve taken the organic route to greater depth in Chicago.
A move into colo and MMR infrastructure out in Chicago could foreshadow similar moves back on the east coast. Zayo isn’t the only metro fiber operator that might benefit from a more aggressive data center strategy, and Lightower definitely has the resources to make more such plays.
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Categories: Datacenter · Mergers and Acquisitions · Metro fiber
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This building is immediately adjacent to Netrality’s new facility.
I wonder how long before it does impact the east cost.