Smart nation projects require dispersed compute nodes across the city to manage massive amounts of IoT sensor data; to provide high fidelity, near-real time response for driverless cars and drones; and to improve end-user gaming and live-streaming experiences. 

Trying to meet the demand for such edge-centric content runs counter to the predominant geographic architecture of the data center and colocation business model. The operator model targeted the top 10 Tier 1 tech hubs in the US — home to plenty of customers, carrier hotels, data center farms and established business communities. These “hubs” did not have very many of the “spokes” required in edge computing, but that is changing.

The challenge of market expansion in edge geographies has created an opportunity for niche edge providers to meet the quickly increasing demand, albeit in a smaller market. The edge data center creates an interconnection ecosystem in cities away from the traditional core markets.