Edge colocation keeps expanding
Market reporting shows edge colocation growing as enterprises push compute and connectivity closer to users and venues, with vendors like AgileSP adding points of presence inside carrier-neutral hubs such as Teraco. Institutional investor moves into data‑centre landlords were also noted, underlining continued capital interest in distributed low-latency estates. (openpr.com, itweb.co.za, themarketsdaily.com)
Edge colocation is expanding as companies rent smaller chunks of data-center space closer to users, offices and venues instead of sending every workload back to a faraway hub. (researchandmarkets.com) One April 2026 market report put the colocation edge data center market at $12.67 billion this year and projected it to reach $26.89 billion by 2030, with growth tied to cloud use, hybrid information-technology setups and fifth-generation mobile networks. (researchandmarkets.com) In South Africa, Agile Solutions Provider has been adding network presence inside major carrier-neutral sites, including Equinix JN1 in Johannesburg, where it said the move adds redundancy and more carrier options for internet transit customers. (itweb.co.za) Carrier-neutral means many networks meet in one building, so customers can buy space once and then connect to several telecom and cloud providers through short physical links called cross-connects. Teraco said its platform gives customers access to more than 250 network providers, cloud on-ramps, subsea cable systems and regional internet exchanges. (itweb.co.za) That interconnection layer is getting bigger. Teraco said in November 2024 that it had started building its JB7 facility at Isando with 40 megawatts of critical power load, lifting the campus toward 110 megawatts and Teraco’s total platform toward 228 megawatts. (itweb.co.za) Teraco also said JB7 is backed by an R8 billion syndicated loan and is scheduled for completion in 2026, underscoring how operators are still spending heavily on regional capacity even as power and cooling demands rise. (itweb.co.za) The landlord side of the business is attracting capital too. Digital Realty says it operates more than 300 data centers in more than 55 metros and serves more than 5,000 customers, making it one of the biggest owners of the buildings that edge and colocation tenants use. (digitalrealty.com) A 2026 investor-trading report said Stanley Laman Group bought 13,134 shares of Digital Realty Trust, adding another sign that wealth managers and institutions still want exposure to data-center real estate as demand spreads beyond a few giant campuses. (themarketsdaily.com) The companies building these sites are selling proximity as much as floor space: fewer network hops for cloud access, more route diversity if a carrier fails, and easier links to local exchanges where traffic can stay in-country or in-region. (itweb.co.za) The result is a more distributed map for computing. Instead of one giant center doing everything, operators and tenants are adding smaller footholds in connected hubs where power, fiber and customers already meet. (digitalrealty.com, itweb.co.za)
