Switch & Data announces new leases, centers

Firm also arranges $108M in venture capital funding

By Rich Miller
CarrierHotels News Staff

July 20, 2000 -- Switch & Data Facilities Company (S&DFC), announced today that it has expanded its network, opening four new network connection centers and signing leases on five additional properties
. The news comes on the heels of the company's announcement that it has received $108 million in third-round venture capital funding and signed a major colocation contract with 2nd Century Communications.
The five most recent lease signings are in Jacksonville, Fla., Albuquerque, N.M., Oklahoma City, Okla., Reston, Va. and Tucson, Ariz.
The four new centers, taken together will add 77,500 square feet of space in state-of-the-art telecommunications buildings to S&DFC's growing network. The new center locations are:
1141 I Street, Sacramento, Cal.. The 13,600 sq. ft. facility is located downtown at the crossroads of one of the densest fiber nets in the Sacramento area.
534 Stockton Avenue, San Jose, Cal. A mile from MAE West, the 20,000 sq. ft. center shares the building with Pacific Bell and several other telecommunications carriers.
210 North Tucker Blvd., St. Louis, Mo. The 21,900 sq. ft. site is in one of St. Louis' two major telco buildings, which are linked together by conduits.
74-76 West Spring Street, Waltham, Mass. The 22,000 sq. ft. fully equipped state-of-the-art building is strategically located in the Boston metropolitan area.
"With these four new centers we will continue to offer our customers the most comprehensive carrier neutral, colocation services available anywhere,'' said Stephen B. Kelly, CEO, S&DFC. ``To meet the enormous growth in demand by data, Internet and telecommunications providers, we plan to create an extensive nationwide and international network of carrier neutral co-location facilities.
"Ultimately, we want to provide carrier neutral co-location facilities to our tenants in any metropolitan market they choose to be in,'' Kelly added.
S&DFC's plans call for the construction of 22 facilities in the next six months. The company secured additional funding to expand its network July 13 when it closed on $108 million in private equity in a third round of financing.
Participants included existing investors Seaport Capital and Summit Capital Group, LLC, as well as new investors BancBoston Capital, DB Capital (A Deutsche Bank AG subsidiary), A.G. Edwards, American General Financial Group, Union Bank and the Tisch family.
"We are very pleased at the level of commitment shown to our company and the belief in our business model," said Kelly. "This round of funding provides us with a tremendous opportunity to become the leading international operator of shared infrastructure facilities for clients in the telecommunications and data/internet industries."
On Monday, Switch & Data announced that application service provider 2nd Century Communications will use S&DFC colocation centers to deploy its high-speed network. 2nd Century provides voice, data, software, and managed desktop solutions to small- and medium-sized businesses.
"We have teamed with S&DFC because we believe they can provide us with the ability to successfully enter new markets while guaranteeing both neutrality and efficiency in the delivery of our services to our customers," said Mark Damico, 2nd Century's vice president of operations.
Founded in 1997, Switch & Data Facilities Company is a pioneer in the development of carrier-neutral, co-location shared telecommunication infrastructure facilities.