QTS Announces Mid-Atlantic Network Access Point (NAP) of Virginia

RICHMOND, Va. (January 16, 2019) – Responding to increasing demand for the lowest latency network access between the US and International markets, QTS Realty Trust (NYSE: QTS), a leading provider of hybrid colocation and mega-scale data center solutions, today announced the establishment of the Mid-Atlantic Network Access Point (NAP) of Virginia located in Richmond, Va.

The recent deployment of Telxius, the infrastructure company of the Telefónica Group, in QTS’ 1.3 million square foot Richmond mega data center, establishes QTS as the closest Tier 3 designed data center to the MAREA and BRUSA next-generation subsea cables, significantly closer to the subsea cables than other data centers and network exchange points in Ashburn, Va. This enables the Mid-Atlantic Network Access Point to offer customers the lowest latency connectivity and highest on-net capacity for network traffic between the US and Southern Europe and the highest capacity to Latin and South America.

MAREA and BRUSA are two of the highest capacity, lowest latency subsea cable systems ever built. MAREA is a Telxius joint project with Facebook and Microsoft. It has reached 200 terabits per second (Tbps) of ultrahigh transmission capacity that keeps growing and is the highest capacity subsea cable system across the Atlantic connecting Virginia (US) and Sopelana (Spain). BRUSA is a private cable built by Telxius and offers one of the lowest latency communication links between the U.S., Puerto Rico and Brazil. Together, these cables provide state-of-the-art connectivity to enable the development of next generation cloud services and content distribution to and from European and Latin American markets.

The cables connect from international destinations such as Sopelana in the north of Spain and Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza in Brazil. The cables terminate in the U.S. in the Virginia Beach Cable Landing Station located in Telxius’ Virginia Beach distribution hub. Telxius is responsible for the operation of the MAREA and BRUSA cables and leverages its IP, capacity, colocation and security services through them, extending the high availability backhaul capacity via its presence in QTS’ Richmond mega data center.

“With the establishment of the Mid-Atlantic NAP of Virginia featuring Telxius, QTS has effectively removed the requirement for customers with international networking needs to colocate in or connect through Ashburn unless they absolutely have to,” said Sean Baillie, EVP Marketing, QTS. “By eliminating unnecessary network components, QTS’ Richmond data center is now the fastest, lowest latency network distribution center in Virginia to and from three continents.”

“Telxius is highly focused on delivering the lowest latency connectivity solutions to enterprises globally,” said Enrique Valdés, VP of Sales, North Region, Telxius. “We are pleased to join the Mid-Atlantic NAP of Virginia as the ideal exchange for any institution looking to colocate in North America and serve international customers with the lowest latency across the BRUSA and MAREA cables.”
QTS’ Richmond data center features diverse connectivity for cloud and hybrid colocation including carrier-neutral cloud interconnection (Megaport and PacketFabric), in-building access to 17 on-net carriers, multiple fiber routes, third party neutral internet peering exchanges and direct access to leading cloud ecosystems. QTS’ existing facility in Richmond features more than 500,000 square feet of raised floor capacity with a future path to more than one million square feet of raised floor capacity across a 220-acre campus.

Richmond continues to expand its appeal as a destination for enterprises, including Bank of America’s recently expanded operations in Henrico County and Facebook’s construction of a two million square foot data center adjacent to QTS in White Oak Technology Park.