Equinix, NTT dominate North America, APAC colocation markets, says Synergy

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) continues to be a frontrunner in the colocation market, taking charge of both the North America and EMEA market, while NTT took the top spot in the APAC region in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a Synergy Research Group report.

There are some clear distinct dynamics in each of these markets, the report notes. "In APAC there are a lot of telcos and single-country operators, while the EMEA market is led by companies with operations in multiple countries and the U.S. is home to a long list of colocation specialists that focus solely on their home market," said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst and research director at Synergy Research Group. "Over time multi-country operators will account for an ever-increasing share of the market."

In North America, Equinix enjoys a wide lead over its nearest competitors Verizon Terremark (NYSE: VZ) and CenturyLink (NYSE: CTL). However, in EMEA Equinix is in a dead heat with TeleCity and Interxion.

"Equinix has aggressively built large-scale operations over a long period of time, including a clear focus on building a strong presence in EMEA and APAC in addition to North America," Dinsdale said in an e-mail to FierceTelecom. "It now has a data center presence in 6 EMEA countries and 5 APAC countries in addition to the US (plus Canada and Brazil). It has a lot of key countries around the world covered, which plays well to attracting multi-national enterprises as clients – in addition to winning local business."

Meanwhile, in APAC, NTT's market share is double that of its closest rival, China Telecom, while Equinix has taken a third ranking spot.

Similar to the European market, Dinsdale said that much of NTT and China Telecom's power resides in their home countries where "they each control 30%-40% of their home markets which is the foundation of their leading positions in the region."

He added that "NTT does have a lot of data centers in other APAC countries, but still generates the bulk of its colocation revenue from Japan."

The fourth quarter was an overall positive time for the regional colocation market, having grown 8 percent year-over-year to $4.5 billion. What's more, quarterly spending on wholesale colocation to some 26 percent of retail spend from three main providers: Digital Realty Trust, Global Switch and DuPont Fabros.

For more:
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