Henrico aims to become coastal internet hub - Virginia Business Magazine

Published November 29, 2022 by Kate Andrews

Henrico isn’t the caller Ashburn, but the region does person 18% of the East Coast’s net postulation coursing done it. That’s a merchandise of QTS Data Centers’ web entree constituent (NAP) astatine Henrico’s White Oak Technology Park, which connects to 3 subsea net cables from Europe and South America that converge successful Virginia Beach.

In November, Henrico played big to the Internet Ecosystem Innovation Committee’s 2nd in-person Global NAP Summit, which convened information halfway executives from crossed the globe to sermon net infrastructure, information centers and cybersecurity. There besides was a ribbon-cutting ceremonial for DE-CIX Richmond, portion of North America’s largest carrier- and information center-neutral net exchange. Based astatine White Oak successful Henrico’s Sandston area, it’s been progressive since December 2021, connecting to much than 3,000 networks, 23 countries, 500-plus information centers and 39 net exchanges.

Although net carriers similar Cloudflare and Limelight person their ain net exchanges, neutral net exchanges person a larger tract of imaginable customers — apt starring to much jobs and taxation gross locally, says Vinay Nagpal, president of InterGlobix LLC and enforcement manager of the IEIC.

Neutrality matters, says Ed d’Agostino, vice president and wide manager of DE-CIX North America. “Data halfway neutrality allows america to cooperate with virtually each information center. Carrier neutrality lets america spouse and interconnect with [carriers]. If they didn’t spot america arsenic neutral, they wouldn’t cooperate with us.”

“You aren’t favoring 1 radical oregon another, but you’re providing adjacent entree to the infrastructure,” explains Tag Greason, main hyperscale serviceman astatine QTS. DE-CIX Richmond and QTS’ NAP, which connects to the MAREA cablegram from Spain, the Dunant cablegram from France and the BRUSA cablegram from Brazil and Puerto Rico, are important parts of the burgeoning Henrico hub.

In July, QTS announced a 1.5 million-square-foot enlargement successful Henrico to summation capacity, acceptable to beryllium completed successful 2024. QTS volition besides beryllium adding to its NAP’s capableness to transportation postulation arsenic much subsea cables travel successful done Virginia Beach, arsenic expected.

Nagpal says Meta Platforms Inc., which has a 970,000-square-foot Facebook information halfway astatine White Oak, could go adjacent much important to the region’s economy, with aboriginal maturation a beardown possibility.

“The request astatine this constituent is precise high,” Greason adds. “The system is becoming much digitized. There is nary uncertainty successful my caput that Henrico County tin beryllium conscionable arsenic important arsenic [New York oregon New Jersey].”