What's Happening?
Digital Realty, a leading global provider of data center solutions, has announced a strategic partnership with Lumen Technologies to deliver high-capacity AI-ready connectivity services across major U.S. metro markets. This collaboration leverages Digital Realty's Private AI Exchange and Lumen's Wavelength RapidRoutes to provide enterprise connectivity at a capacity of up to 400G. The partnership aims to empower organizations to rapidly prototype and deploy traditional and AI applications, facilitating access to hyperscaler clouds and other critical data center locations. Digital Realty is expanding its ecosystem by connecting enterprise customers to over 700 locations, offering rapid deployment and high-capacity connectivity.
Why It's Important?
The partnership between Digital Realty and Lumen Technologies is significant as it addresses the growing demand for high-capacity, dedicated connectivity required by enterprises and AI service providers. This development is crucial for unlocking business value through secure, low-latency data movement and scalable networks. The collaboration is expected to enhance the ability of organizations to collect, train, and infer data, driving real business outcomes. By providing rapid deployment and high-capacity connectivity, the partnership supports the infrastructure needs of businesses, enabling them to scale and meet future demands in AI applications and data exchange.
What's Next?
The collaboration will see Lumen's RapidRoutesSM services accessible in 25 Digital Realty data centers across 11 U.S. markets, with extended reach to additional locations. This expansion provides more options for enterprises to meet current and future infrastructure needs. The industry-leading installation timeframe and guaranteed service level agreements are expected to facilitate a frictionless path to high-capacity connectivity, supporting the rapid prototyping and deployment of AI applications.
Beyond the Headlines
The partnership highlights the increasing importance of AI-ready infrastructure in the digital economy. As businesses continue to rely on AI applications, the need for robust connectivity solutions becomes critical. This development may also influence other data center providers to enhance their offerings, fostering competition and innovation in the sector.
