Pulsant fleshes out edge strategy with Manchester data center purchase
UK service provider Pulsant has acquired a data center in Manchester as part of its edge strategy. The hosting and colocation provider has several regional data centers in the UK and the latest was acquired from Manchester hoster M247.
The facility is not a large one at 1MW (although Pulsant says it will upgrade the facility) but the deal includes M247’s site staff and some 40 customers. M247 will continue to use the facility to provide connectivity and cloud-based services to its end users. Describing Manchester as an edge location, will no doubt raise eyebrows as outside London the city is the largest data center hub in the UK by some margin.
Pulsant is a veteran of the UK digital infrastructure market that was founded in 1995. Antin Partners took a stake last year and since then the company has moved towards an edge strategy, claiming to be the UK’s largest edge computing platform. It says its network of edge data centers can deliver high-speed low latency bandwidth to 95% of the population. The locations include Milton Keynes, Croydon, Newcastle, Edinburgh and Reading. After the private equity investment the market had expected to see acquisitions and this is the first. Notably, the acquisition is in the North West where there was a gap in the Pulsant data center portfolio.
There have been some new entrants targeting edge data centers in the UK, but Pulsant is in a strong position given that its data centers already provide coverage to roughly 95% of the UK population. It can serve requirements as soon as they emerge and already has customers in sectors where the edge will present early opportunities. Roughly 30% of its customer base is comprised of carriers and SaaS providers that use its data centers to connect to customers across the UK. It provides the infrastructure for software platforms that provide SaaS applications targeting specific sectors such as logistics, transport and legal services.
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