1623 Farnam Talks Expansions, 2021 Expectations, PTC and Beyond with JSA TV

As part of this year’s virtual PTC’21 experience, 1623 Farnam’s VP of Business Development Greg Elliott sat down with JSA TV for a conversation about company developments, recent accomplishments and more. As the regional leader in network-neutral edge interconnection, 1623 Farnam has been undergoing some exciting projects, and the company’s momentum shows no signs of slowing.

One of the most significant milestones for the company in 2020 was the progress made on a massive two-year, $40 million infrastructure upgrade (which adds new colocation space and enhances 1623’s fiber interconnectivity, cooling abilities and power capacity). The company also began offering on-demand global network connectivity in partnership with Megaport.

In the pipeline for 2021 is the company’s carrier-neutral 5G lab, which will serve as a resource for developers looking to access a wealth of 5G carriers in order to test new software and hardware. 1623 is also looking forward to participating in an Augmented Reality (AR) challenge spearheaded by US Ignite and Facebook Reality Labs.

When it comes to business drivers in 2021, Elliott highlights growing hyperscale activity in the region, which stems in part from 1623’s proximity to one of Google Cloud’s main North American data centers. The data center sits around 9 miles away from 1623 Farnam, which is just a millisecond by way of fiber. Nearby Facebook, Amazon and Apple data centers, as well as carriers with 5G C-RANs (cloud or centralized radio access networks) within 1623 itself, will also be guiding the company’s developments into the future.

Fiber remains a mainstay of digital capability, and while 1623 Farnam — located in Omaha, Nebraska — already leverages east/west and north/south fiber routes for robust connectivity, optimization is always ongoing. Elliott notes, “The really encouraging thing is that we’re seeing new fiber builds.” You can check out more about 1623’s partners and customers in their case studies and blog.

Overall, 2020 certainly made waves across telecom and throughout the global communications landscape, but Elliott underscores the importance of events like PTC for their role in bringing the industry and its constituents together. He notes, “We’d all love to be in Honolulu right now, face to face, but… even virtually, we want to support PTC. The community and the attendees that go to PTC [make it] a must-attend event.”

You can view this interview in its entirety below: