In early March, Lightower announced that it had finalized its acquisition of ColocationZone, an enterprise data center service provider based in Chicago. As part of the deal, Lightower will take over operations of the Meet Me Room for ColocationZone's Chicago data center, located in the central business district in the South Loop.
The Illinois data center features connections to nine telecommunications carriers in the area, as well as scalable cabinet and cage space. The facility will now also have access to Lightower's all-fiber network that currently serves more than 8,500 service sites. The Chicago data center is also connected to ColocationZone's other facility in the city through a direct fiber line, allowing for the lowest latency possible.
In addition, the Chicago data center includes 6,500 square feet of data center space specifically geared toward enterprise use. The Illinois facility has an N + 1 power configuration alongside an uninterruptible power supply as well as N + 1 cooling.
With the acquisition completed, clients of the Chicago data center will now have access to Lightower's 175 data center locations, 40 financial exchanges and 250 carrier hotels and central offices.
"ColocationZone's facility in the downtown business district is a great fit for Lightower as we continue to expand in, and invest in, the Chicago market," said Rob Shanahan, Lightower president and CEO. "This acquisition also allows us to complement a customer's data center needs with Lightower's high capacity network services for enterprises, cloud, content and carrier customers in the region."
Last year, Lightower expanded their all-fiber network in Chicago, enabling it to be connected to almost all major Chicago data centers and financial exchanges. The company also has an all-fiber network presence in the surrounding suburbs, including in Elk Grove Village, Skokie and Aurora, the second largest city in Illinois.
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