We offer cross connects free of charge. This might look like a simple concession at first glance, but the reasons why we provide free cross connects are really rooted in the incredible benefits that interconnection provides to our customers.
At TRG, we don’t believe cross connects should ever be chargeable. Because keeping them free incentivizes greater interconnection, making facilities themselves more reliable over time.
Free services like this also enable us to work more closely with our customers, in time allowing them to see our technicians as an extension of their own teams. That’s hugely important to us here at TRG, and it’s vital if we’re to maximize interconnection in the long term.
Why We Do Free Cross Connects
There are many benefits to free cross connects. The truth is, by removing the small charges associated with cross connects, we can increase interconnection, enhancing performance, security and flexibility alike.
More interconnectivity means better reliability. Upgrades in interconnectivity as a result of free cross connects in Dallas, for example, equals enhanced access to networks in tertiary markets.
Before we dive into the reasoning behind our free cross connects in more detail, let’s take a look back at what brought us to this point.
In the early 2000s, cross connects were always free. Fees were only introduced to cover the costs associated with building and maintaining specialized fiber connections. Things like specialized staff, delicate fiber, and infrastructure like basket trays and fiber troughs. But these fees have significantly increased over time, and the price rises haven’t always been justified.
The all-in cost of cross connects for a data center operator is somewhere between $800 and $950. Based on an infrastructure investor’s unlevered yield of 15%, that puts the monthly fee needed to fully recover that expense at around $10. So even if you account for the need for a dedicated fiber technician, the true burden remains in the low tens of dollars per month.
We really feel that this is a hit that’s well worth taking, because the benefits of offering cross connects are worth far more than that small charge – for our team and yours.
Transparency is enormously important to us here at TRG. We never charge additional costs that can’t be justified. And that’s another reason why cross connects don’t incur an additional charge for our customers.
Read on and we’ll take you through why we decided to provide free cross connects for all of our customers.
Free cross connects incentivize interconnection
At the core of it all, charging customers for cross connects disincentivizes them from ordering additional connectivity. And that’s something we’d never want to do.
We are carrier and fiber rich, and we want to share as much of that with our customers as possible. This benefits our team and those of our customers, in two key ways.
Firstly, by providing free cross connects, we’re making it far easier for customers to improve reliability in their own operations, by adding additional network connections.
Secondly, the provision of free cross connects for all customers is enabling us to create a fiber-rich ecosystem at TRG. This is hugely important, as it maximizes data center space and allows us to continue meeting growing demand. And that’s good news for our customers, as well as our own team.
We are continually finding new uses for cross connects, such as connecting to any of our many cloud providers and MSP’s in the facility for free to create a hybrid cloud / edge strategy, or interconnecting cabinets and getting people away from a cage model.
Keeping cross connects free helps us deliver a standout experience
We’ve been creating and demonstrating value since the moment we first opened our doors, and we’ll continue to do so because everything we do revolves around building upon our core offerings.
Legacy models like building businesses based on charging for cross connects is not only a customer-second mentality, but it introduces a long term risk for that business, namely that it could well be forced to switch from a subscription cross connect model if future market forces push that revenue stream away.
A customer requesting to add a cross connect is a non-active distribution path that does not require any real meaningful capacity from us (let’s face it, it’s only a wire!).
We’re demonstrating value by providing quick, fast and reliable services to our customers.
Introducing an additional workflow would detract from that experience, and have a negative impact that far surpasses the small profitability benefit a chargeable cross connect would have.
Instead of charging for cross connects, we focus on tying our costs to specific value-added activities, like our Colo+ service where we take care of all physical aspects of your data center, including migration.
Free cross connects improve relationships
There are benefits to offering free cross connects that go far beyond the small cost saving that our customers get.
Our approach allows us to offer more reliable, higher-quality cross connects with a digitized asset tracking system. We’re uniquely able to add value for our customers, through reductions in installation time and the elimination of monthly recurring fees.
Chargeable cross connects are extremely problematic for the data center experience. They set the relationship up to be combative from day one.
Keeping cross connects free, by contrast, helps to improve relationships from day one. It even makes requesting them easier, as it can all be done via a simple ticket system that’s constantly monitored by our team.
A single cabinet in our facility on average has 2-3 cross connects. While these are sometimes purchased as part of the initial purchasing workflow, adding a cross connect mid contract creates challenges associated with non co-terminous contracts, but also creates an additional contracting workflow.
Our goal is to minimize the time that our staff spend in contract negotiations with customers so that we can spend more time serving them. Changing a carrier, or adding a carrier should be as easy as submitting a ticket.
The mental energy associated with managing small ticket recurring contracts is not healthy for our employees or our customers.
Companies like Megaport and others are also coming after cross connects to disrupt the core experience of data centers by providing an easy, fast, and reliable way to interconnect. When you compare SDN (Software Defined Networks) and solution providers like Megaport to the legacy mind-sets associated with many data center and internet providers, you see that revenue space being ripe for disruption.
Ordering a cross connect at TRG is as simple as kicking a ticket in. No contracts needed.
We know that free cross connects are essential to the provision of superior interconnection, which is why we’ve been committed to keeping cross connects free from the start. To do so, we’ve invested in product innovation and efficiency that will allow us to continue keeping services like this absolutely free.
Our digitized asset tracking system and the use of pre-terminated, Kevlar-coated, and steel-armored fiber cables are prime examples. These additions have allowed for faster and more reliable installations using a pulley system under the floor.
Upgrades like this have improved our efficiency, allowing us to reduce overheads and continue offering cross connects at no charge. And that’s something we’ll continue to prioritise for today’s customers, and tomorrow’s.
