colo.com, the colocation facilities provider, announced that it is opening a new 6,800 square foot, high-tech facility in Chicago. The company’s new carrier-neutral colocation (Neutral Optical Hub) facility will be located at 725 S. Well Street.
colo.com’s Neutral Optical Hubs help Internet and communications companies deploy new broadband products and services businesses and consumers desire–from streaming audio and video to VoIP to fast and reliable interactivity for e-business–by housing sophisticated networks and applications close to these ultimate users.
“Chicago is a critical site to us. The market presents a wide range of customers–carriers, CLECs, ISPs, ASPs, among others, in a key geography, and an area of growing economic vitality,” said Kushi Kullar, Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing, colo.com. “This is our third facility in the Chicago area.”
Its other facilities are located in Oak Brook and in Chicago, on Cermak Road.
The Wells Street facility will feature primary and secondary power systems, advanced fire suppression, controlled temperature and humidity, and biometric hand scanners for secure entry. Internet and telco-trained technicians will be on duty 24/7 to monitor equipment performance and provide technical services to customers.
colo.com’s Neutral Optical Hubs differ from web-hosting and network management services, carrier hotels and other colocation in several ways. Emphasizing its edge-of-network advantage, colo.com’s facilities fill a need for high-bandwidth application and service providers to ensure fast, top-quality content delivery to their customers.
The company’s facilities also offer a variety of footprint options; access to multiple carriers and the environment to buy, sell and exchange services; telco-grade facilities and telco and Internet trained technicians; and a cost-effective alternative to the existing carrier-dependent or in-house solutions.
“As the Internet gets bigger and more complex, being close to our customer eliminates lots of problems,” said Kullar. “While some of these are network-related, there are also human issues. That’s why Chicago is one of 20 facilities colo.com is building out across the U.S. this year, providing us the opportunity to serve new customers locally.”
San Francisco-based colo.com has the financial backing of leading venture-capital firms including Menlo Ventures, Accel Partners, Highland Capital Partners, Athena Technology Ventures, Meritech Capital Partners, InvestCorp International Inc. and UBS Capital. It has raised about $520 Million to date.
