No cross connect fees: carrier neutral telecom access without the penalty

Many wholesale colocation providers offer customers access to multiple telecommunications providers inside their data centers. Many offer a carrier neutral data center, meaning that there are no financial penalties or incentives associated with selecting particular carriers. Most customers appreciate access to multiple carriers; it gives them the chance to shop each of their connections among multiple carriers and determine the best price/value combination for their needs.

Cross-connect fees are monthly charges associated with these connections, billed to the customer by the outsource data center provider. There is usually one charge for each connection to the telecom carriers. These charges vary by data center provider. Sometimes the cross connect charges are based on the type of connection (fiber or copper), sometimes they are based on the size of the circuit, and sometimes they are just flat fees. These monthly fees can add up, especially when a customer has many connections to the Internet, remote branch offices, clients, and/or vendors.

A few wholesale data centers offer multiple carriers in a carrier neutral data center with no cross connect fees. For customers with multiple telecom connections, this cross-connect fee avoidance can mean big savings. Customers can move the hub of the network to these no cross-connect fee data centers and build a flexible, resilient network with no financial restrictions on the number of carriers they choose to employ.

Customers with a single telecom carrier can still save money. In Midwest data centers, monthly cross-connect fees average in the $50-200 per month range, so there is still financial benefit.

Looking for a wholesale colocation provide with no cross connect fees? Look here.

Alex Carroll

Managing Member at Lifeline Data Centers

Alex, co-owner, is responsible for all real estate, construction and mission critical facilities: hardened buildings, power systems, cooling systems, fire suppression, and environmentals. Alex also manages relationships with the telecommunications providers and has an extensive background in IT infrastructure support, database administration and software design and development. Alex architected Lifeline’s proprietary GRCA system and is hands-on every day in the data center.