Internet Speed: 40 Mbps downlink; 10 Mbps uplink

Population: 11 million

Main Internet services: Cable, DSL, Fiber

Main Internet Service Providers: AT&T, Time Warner Cable, WOW!

Colocation Datacenters: 70

According to Akamai.com, the average downlink Internet speed in Ohio is 40 Mbps, and the average uplink speed is 10 Mbps.

In 2016, the population of Ohio was approximately 11 million. More than 85% of residents have access to the Internet, especially broadband connections.

Main Internet services provided in Ohio are as follows:

– Cable – over 90% coverage
– DSL – over 90% coverage
– Fiber – less than 20% coverage

Main Internet Service Providers located in Ohio are the following:

– AT&T (DSL) – over 90% availability
– Time Warner Cable (Cable) – over 85% availability
– WOW! (Fiber) – less than 20% availability

Gigabit Internet in Ohio

Gigabit Internet services are scarcely available in Ohio. In August 2016, AT&T announced that they would start rolling out this particular service to select areas in Cleveland, Bedford Heights, and Shaker Heights, with further expansion plans to Barberton and Mentor by the end of 2017. As a direct response to the introduction of this service, Time Warner Cable have raised their Internet speeds, but not considerably nevertheless.

According to datacentermap.com, there are currently 70 colocation datacenters located in Ohio. Most datacenters are located in Columbus (23), closely followed by Cincinnati (18), Cleveland (13), and other smaller cities.

The most prominent colocation providers are concentrated in Columbus, and are as follows:

– Cologix
– Patrick Solutions, Inc.
– RackSquared
– Expedient Datacenters

Additional state-of-the-art datacenters are located in Cincinnati as well:

– CyrusOne Datacenters
– Immedion
– tw telecom

Prominent Colocation Providers

One of the biggest colocation providers located in Columbus is Cologix. This company operates two highly sought-after facilities, which stand apart from the competition by combining state-of-the-art infrastructure with the most densely-connected interconnect site in the region. The facilities specialize in providing wholesale and retail colocation services, with a strong emphasis on disaster recovery and business continuity solutions, which cater mostly to customers coming from surrounding markets. Amenities include: N+1 redundant UPS power equipment, redundant cooling system, as well as 24/7 on-site security. Both facilities feature carrier-neutrality, with on-premise access to 25+ unique networks in the MMR (Meet-Me-Room), in addition to other colo tenants in the Cologix-owned facilities. This company also serves as the region’s hub for interconnectivity, by providing fiber feeds reaching all 88 Ohio counties.

Colocation Industry in Ohio

Ohio is currently regarded as a secondary datacenter market, but recent investments poured into the market by national companies such as tw telecom and CyrusOne indicate substantial growth in comparison to the preceding years. The local market definitely is not up to par with other emerging Midwestern markets, such as Illinois or Michigan, which are a preferred option for most customers. However, since Ohio is the farthest east Midwestern state, a great number of customers opt for this market as an alternative to the substantially-more-expensive options that are New York and New Jersey.

Advantages for Colocation

There are many more advantages that we can list, such as

– low energy prices – according to verneglobal.com, the average electricity rate in Ohio is 6.67 cents per kWh, which is 23 percent lower than in Pennsylvania, and a whopping 96 percent lower than in New Jersey and New York respectively;
– low risk of natural disasters – the region is generally hazard-free, barring the occasional floods and low-magnitude earthquakes;
– highly-specialized IT personnel

Disadvantages for Colocation

On the other hand, there are also a few noteworthy disadvantages:

– rather stagnant technical infrastructure;
– while strong, the economy is not centered around industries that drive the demand for colocation services.