Internet Speed: 19 Mbps downlink; 7 Mbps uplink

Population: 12.8 million

Main Internet services: Cable, DSL, Fiber

Main Internet Service Providers: Comcast, AT&T

Colocation Datacenters: 86

Colocation Market:

According to Akamai.com, the average downlink Internet speed in Illinois is 19 Mbps and the average uplink speed is 7 Mbps.

In 2016, the population of Illinois was 12.8 million. Over 85% of residents have access to the Internet, especially broadband connections.

Main Internet services provided in Illinois are as follows:

– Cable – 87% coverage
– DSL – 80% coverage
– Fiber – less than 25% coverage

Main Internet Service Providers established in Illinois are the following:

– Comcast (Cable) – 90% availability
– AT&T (DSL) – 87% availability
– AT&T (Fiber) – less than 10% availability

Gigabit Internet in Illinois

Gigabit Internet services are scarcely available in Illinois, as reflected by the very low penetration percentage of 5%. Comcast and AT&T, the largest players on the local market, are currently the only Internet providers that offer gigabit services to Illinoisan business and residential customers. The local technical infrastructure is not so much so developed to actually support gigabit speeds, and current trends indicate that this situation is not bound to change soon.

According to datacentermap.com, there are currently 86 colocation datacenters located in Illinois. The majority of datacenters are located in Chicago (80), while the rest are distributed across other regions, notably Aurora, Bloomington, and Rockford.

Prominent colocation providers located in Chicago are the following:

– First Communications
– CyrusOne Datacenters
– Colocation America
– Urban Communications, Inc.

Prominent Colocation Providers – Colocation America

One of the largest colocation providers established in Chicago is Colocation America. This company operates multiple privately-owned datacenters, which specialise in providing colocation services, in addition to disaster recovery and business continuity solutions. Datacenter tenants include enterprise-level firms, financial trading companies, media companies, but also new companies looking to start out in the market. Services consist of the following:

– rental of office space, suites, cages, footprints, rack cabinets, as well as enclosures
– dedicated servers
– virtual servers

Amenities include:

– UPS Power Equipment
– Diverse PDUs
– State-of-the-art Cooling Equipment
– Diesel Generators
– Multiple Transformers

In addition to these amenities, all facilities are carrier neutral, providing on-site access to a wide array of telecoms and other carrier hotels located in close proximity.

Colocation Industry in Illinois

Illinois is currently regarded as a secondary colocation market in the United States, and current trends indicate that this state is able to transition to a top market if investments remain as frequent and as consistent as they are now. Illinois is the undisputed leader for colocation services in the Midwest, both in terms of quality and actual colocation space, as reflected by the very high number of datacenters established in the region (86 versus 41 and 28 in Missouri and Indiana respectively). However, because it is somewhat close to Northern Virginia, New York, and New Jersey, customers that can afford impeccable colocation services usually remain there to the detriment of Illinois.

Advantages for Colocation

Illinois is a great state in terms of colocation services. We can underline a few advantages which are as follows:

– good year-round weather, especially during winter, when datacenters can save up much money for cooling
– relatively developed technical infrastructure inside Chicago
– a big cluster of tech businesses in Chicago, which drive most of the demand for colocation services
– low risk for natural disasters
– attractive costs of electricity, which remain stable in the $.059 – $.064 per kWh range.

Disadvantages for Colocation

A few disadvantages can be mentioned as well:

– scarce supply of colocation space
– not many datacenters outside Chicago