Telehouse North

Colo-X analysis

Telehouse North is probably the most important network interconnection facility in Europe. As such, we view it as one of the key global connectivity hubs in the world, a true colocation network ecosystem, and it ranks on a par with 60 Hudson in New York, 1 Wilshire in LA, Sino Favor building in Hong Kong and 90 KleyerStraße in Frankfurt (acquired by Equinix in 2012).

Telehouse North is therefore of strong interest to network operators, voice carriers and ISPs looking to interconnect with other parties and exchange traffic. Because of its age, it does not suit high power density requirements, but the standard 2kW per footprint available in the newly refurbished rooms seems manageable for most network-based requirements. Indeed, in some areas slightly higher-power cabinets can be sourced, and up to 16Amps/3.5kW is possible.

Those requiring more power per footprint should consider Telehouse West or the newer North 2 buildings next door, where up to 6kW per footprint or more  is possible.

From time to time Telehouse North does sell out, but some capacity can usually be found – contact us if you are struggling or need a quote. There are also part racks available, such as quarter or half rack options. Telehouse provide 24/7 on-site support to all clients. Comparatively reasonable cross-connect costs an additional attraction.

Telehouse North facility description

Telehouse North opened in 1990 and was originally designed to be a DR facility for Japanese banks located in the nearby City. When telecoms deregulation started in the UK in the mid 90s, Telehouse was the only suitable building available so it became the de facto interconnection point for all the new carriers competing with BT (British Telecom).

LINX established their first site here in 1994, and from here on the site became the leading network node in both the UK and Europe. As it was open nearly 10 years before any other facilities were built, its lead as a carrier interconnection point is unsurpassed. Indeed, it was because of Telehouse that all the other Docklands-based colocation facilities that opened in the “dot-com” boom are located here, the belief at the time being that you built your colocation facilities where the fibre was (in contrast to today where you build where the power is located!).

The building itself is seven floors and offers just under 100,000 sq ft of net technical capacity across five of those floors. Colocation rack space is available in suites known as TFMs. Some dedicated caged space is available, but only when an existing client vacates. Cross-connects are easier to arrange than previously and copper/Cat5 is often possible between rooms (distance check needed) where fibre is not required.

Telehouse North has historically suffered from high occupancy, so much so that at times the building is often totally sold out. Given its age, power per rack is relatively light, but this is improving as Telehouse periodically renovate rooms to a higher and improved specification. For example, their new rooms in TFM19 and TFM15 are both built to 2kW per cabinet delivered over two fully diverse A+B feeds, and 3kW is possible.

As the original building on the site (which now comprises four colocation buildings, the other three being Telehouse East, Telehouse West and, the newest addition, North 2), North is still seen as building that offers the highest carrier choice. Therefore, for those clients after connectivity options, North is the preferred choice even though interconnection services are available (at a cost) between the three sites.

Quarter and half rack options, offering high quality, secure points of presence at a fraction of the cost of a full rack are available, ask Colo-X for a quote.

Suites inside Telehouse are given TFM numbers.

1st floor: TFM1, TFM2

2nd floor: TFM3, TFM9, TFM16, TFM19, TFM20, TFM23

3rd floor: The Star Suite, TFM18, TFM12

4th floor: TFM4, TFM6, TFM11, TFM15, TFM17, TFM21, TFM22

5th floor: TFM7, TFM8, TFM14

Charges for cross-connects are an important additional consideration when using a premium colocation network ecosystem, in addition to costs for the racks and kilowatts and Telehouse’s charges are amongst the most reasonable in the London market. As ever, contact Colo-X for full details.

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