Open Access Data Centres (OADC) announced the deployment of Africa's first large-scale edge data center environment in South Africa. Nigeria will follow later this year in the wider rollout of OADC Edge throughout the African continent.

The objective of OADC is to establish an edge environment that enables its customers to realize business opportunities faster. This is done by consolidating edge computing, edge data centers, and hyperscale connectivity in one ecosystem. To expand network reach into new markets, 5G operators, ISPs and fibre providers must be able to deploy equipment at remote locations. It is essential for the successful rollout of new, time-critical applications that content is served locally. By processing large quantities of critical data before it is forwarded to a larger facility, backhaul costs will be reduced and efficiency will be increased.

Recently, Africa has seen investments in hyperscale data centers focused on the continent's largest metropolitan areas. A single data center's presence, however, is not sufficient to serve a country or region. 5G operators, ISPs, and fiber operators are looking for cost-efficient methods to reach new markets, which requires network equipment to be securely stored in remote locations.

As part of OADC's core-to-edge, open-access edge data center offering, regional data centers covering major cities - initially across South Africa - and the rollout of over 100, 0.5 MW OADC Edge data centers will form the largest deployment of open-access data center on the continent. Already, 17 OADC Edge data centers are live in South Africa, offering colocation, rooftop access and high-speed network connectivity between facilities at up to 100Gbps on multiple routes to provide diversity.

The company is expanding into regional connectivity hubs, with new 2-3MW, Tier-III regional facilities coming online in Q3 2022 and more than 100 OADC Edge facilities anticipated by the end of 2022.

Photo credit: Tobias Reich