Meet Me in Boston
January 1, 2004
Part of a series of articles published in FATPIPE magazine from 2003-2005 examining carrier interconnection options in major North American cities. This article was published in the January 2004 issue. To download the complete series as one consolidated PDF (2.7 MB), click here.
In concluding our 2003 tour of the major core interconnection facilities in North America, this writer would like to thank The Dagda for the opportunity, as well as for a beneficial and enlightening year.
Throughout the past year, the major communications markets of North America were researched, reviewed and the core interconnection points of the major networks were featured. Along the way, a clearer picture was drawn about the network interconnection business and, more specifically, the difference between a core interconnection point and a collocation or data center-type facility.
In the core sites, multiple interconnections happen at every speed, medium and protocol (including DWDM), and the physical space requirements are usually for transport and core switching and routing. In the data center-type sites, there are usually less interconnects needed, and they are mainly Ethernet or TDM, while the space is mostly servers. Almost every network has core routing and server requirements. Finding the best place for each layer was the purpose of the series.
Last year, readers were encouraged to suggest additional markets to be featured in this series. That is how San Francisco was included, and due to the response and requests for other markets, the series was extended again, and this month will feature Boston.
| Attribute | 1 Summer St. | 230 Congress St. |
|---|---|---|
| Building size | 800,000 sq. ft. | 162,584 sq. ft. |
| Union building | Yes (Boston requirement) | Yes |
| Building generator | Yes | Yes |
| Generator rooms for tenants | Yes, unused generators also are available with lease. | Yes |
| Roof access | Yes, steel platforms in place on 120,000 sq. ft. of roof | Yes |
| Tenant conduit rights | Yes, multiple empty conduits are available with lease. | Yes |
| Is there a meet me room? | Landlord does not sponsor a building meet me room. Instead, tenants are allowed to work together directly without charges or interference. | N/A |
| Is this MMR the featured site? | No | No |
| Facility | Interconnect Options |
|---|---|
| 1 Summer St. | Tenants of the building can request conduit runs throughout the building. |
| 230 Congress St. | Riser master plan permits efficient access to tenant ancillary equipment and carriers located throughout the building. |
| Facility | Cost Structure |
|---|---|
| 1 Summer St. | There are labor and materials charges for the construction, but the landlord does not impose any additional fees. |
| 230 Congress St. | Labor and materials. Contact landlord for additional pricing information. |
Boston T-1 Party
After researching the Boston market, the three sites that were mentioned most were 1 Summer St., 230 Congress St. and 74 West St. in Waltham, Mass. The first two would fall into the carrier hotel category, whereas 74 West St., a Switch and Data Facilities site, is more of a data center. Depending on one's needs, these site should be able to accommodate most folks in the Boston Area.
| 1 Summer St. | 230 Congress St. |
|---|---|
| Broadwing | 360 Networks |
| Level 3 | AT&T |
| MCI | Broadwing |
| Verizon | Global Crossing |
| XO | InterNAP |
| ICG | Level 3 |
| MFN | MCI |
| NEON Communications | MFN |
| Nstar | NEON |
| Qwest | Network Plus |
| WilTel | Paetec |
| Qwest | |
| RCN-BecoCom | |
| Verizon | |
| Winstar Wireless | |
| XO |
Within the carrier hotels, it was made clear that there was no building meet me point at 1 Summer St., and I was unable to get enough detail about 230 Congress St. to make that determination. As a result, I will compare the two without the interconnection-facility-specific questions. Keep in mind that without a concentrated point of interconnection, cross connects within the building can be problematic. Especially for the single, low-speed circuits that may not be generating enough revenue for the carrier in need of the connection to cost justify the necessary labor and materials and/or conduit. For a low-speed circuit or multiple carrier interconnections, it might be a better option to collocate with one of the existing tenants in the building. Prior to that, however, be sure and investigate the carrier access within their site and their level of neutrality in connecting to those networks.
One Summer St. is easily one of the best carrier hotels in New England due to its list of carrier tenants and carefully designed infrastructure, which caters to telecommunications companies. The building has a long list of the top telecom tenants in the industry, and the owner understands that the building is only successful because of those tenants. There are no charges to the tenants for the right to run conduit, interconnect to other tenants or customers, get power or conduct their business. The current owner knows the success of its customers is crucial to his own success and, accordingly, will create an environment that reflects that philosophy.
230 Congress St. is the old Western Union building and Boston's oldest carrier hotel. It is substantially full with almost every telecom player in Boston having a presence in the building. Connectivity between all floors and all tenants in the building is easily achieved by existing infrastructure.
The Waltham Switch and Data site, north of Boston, offers a convenient, secure and connected location for firms that wish to house mission-critical gear in this technology corridor. Ease of access, 24 x 7 coverage, flexibility in space offerings and a managed meet me room powered by a mix of providers are some of the key components to the value provided at this location.
This site has been successful by offering a high-grade data center facility in conjunction with neutral, meet me room options. The entire building is owned by Switch and Data, and within the meet me point you can access C2C Fiber, Cogent, NAII, NSTAR, Qwest, RCN, Verio and Verizon. Even though the site is not downtown and more of a data center environment, the managed interconnection point may provide the level of access your network needs.
At the time of this writing, Hunter Newby was chief strategy officer of telx. Originally published in FAT PIPE, January 2004.
