Internet speed: 37 Mbps downlink; 22.4 Mbps uplink

Population: 2.92 million

Internet Coverage: 95% of residents

Main Internet Services: Cable, DSL, Fiber

Internet Service Providers: Cox, AT&T, Google Fiber

Colocation Datacenters: 12 (prominent companies: TierPoint, DataBank, Quality Technology Services)

According to Akamai.com, the average downlink Internet speed in Kansas is 37 Mbps and the average uplink speed is 22.4 Mbps.

In 2016, the population of Kansas was 2.92 million. More than 95% of residents have access to the Internet, especially broadband connections.

Main Internet services provided in Kansas are the following:

– Cable – more than 93.5% coverage
– DSL – more than 90% coverage
– Fiber – less than 50% coverage

Main Internet Service Providers located in Kansas are as follows:

– Cox Communications (Cable) – 95% availability
– AT&T (DSL) – over 90% availability
– Google Fiber (Fiber – select areas) – over 50% availability

Gigabit Internet in Kansas

Kansas is currently one of the most fiber-connected states in the US, making it an attractive state for ISPs to deploy gigabit Internet services in. Google Fiber kicked off the trend a few years back, when they announced that they would start rolling out gigabit Internet to Kansas City-based businesses and residential customers, shortly followed by another statement which said that many more Kansas cities might be eligible for this service. However, Google lost some of its initial prestige in the region, which is why AT&T and Cox indicated that they might start rolling out a similar service in order to “fill the void”.

According to datacentermap.com, there are currently 12 colocation datacenters distributed across various cities and/or other regions. Most datacenters are established in Kansas City (8), shortly followed by Wichita (4) and Topeka (1).

In Kansas City, major colocation providers include the following:

– TierPoint
– DataBank
– Quality Technology Services
– Cavern Technologies

Prominent Colocation Providers

TierPoint is one of the most important colocation providers located in Kansas, whose main datacenter is located in the Lenexa suburb of Kansas City. The 60,000-square-foot facility was built to serve customers located all across Kansas, but also customers located in other nearby markets, such as Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska or New Mexico, all of which being considerably more expensive to colocate. The facility features high-efficiency UPS, chiller systems, as well as private dark fiber ring through metro Kansas City. Additionally, it offers carrier neutrality, with access to over 5 on-premise ISPs and other colocation providers, such as AT&T, Cox, DataBank, Cavern.

Another important colocation provider located in Kansas City is DataBank. Their main 12,000-square-foot datacenter is located in the Lenexa suburb of Kansas City, and offers wholesale and retail colocation services, in addition to other miscellaneous services, including virtual hosting, cloud hosting, network services, storage solutions, as well as security solutions.

Incentives

Kansas is currently regarded as a secondary datacenter market, but the state is bound to attract many more investments and, implicitly, customers thanks to the recent state-level datacenter incentives proposed by the authorities. Kansas is usually sought after by customers looking for a cheaper alternative to substantially more expensive markets that surround it, such as Colorado, New Mexico, Texas, and Illinois.

Disadvantages

One significant disadvantage of this region is its somewhat unstable weather, which can go from sub-zero temperatures to burning-hot temperatures in a moment’s notice. According to epa.gov, Kansas is also at very high risk for natural disasters, especially tornados, but spontaneous earthquakes are not a rare occurrence either. Due to its particularly hazardous nature, Kansas might never become a top colocation market, regardless of how many effort is being put in.