Paratus Namibia said its N$123-million Armada Data Centre (DC) facility, scheduled for launch in Windhoek in August this year, is the country’s first carrier-neutral datacentre, and will offer network operators and individual colocation tenants freedom of choice as well as peace of mind in respect of connectivity resilience.

In May the company announced the launch of the datacentre and described the venture as one of the largest and most advanced in Namibia.

This confidence is pegged on the offer of multiple concurrent MMPs (Meet-Me-Points) on campus, access, and uptime.

In an update released to the media, Paratus said, “… while Paratus operates its own resilient quality network that interconnects with the rest of Africa and the world through its Trans Kalahari Fibre network, the DC’s carrier-neutral status gives clients and tenants total control over their connectivity options.”

Paratus Group CEO Designate, Schalk Erasmus explained: “This is the first DC in Namibia to have carrier-neutral status. It’s important for our tenants in terms of cost, optimum connectivity, and backup because being tied to one network can be limiting. As a quality network service provider, Paratus understands both our tenants’ and other network operators’ needs, and we are currently in talks with several ISPs about the options that the Armada DC gives them.”

Paratus believes the Armada DC will add value to all stakeholders within the telecommunications ecosystem, including hyperscalers, operators, and enterprises – and the end user.

“For the end-user, this is great news because more content and information may be transmitted to more people through multiple operators. The content will be closer to the end-user, and we are giving ISPs, effectively, a level playing field to deliver that content,” said Erasmus.

According to Paratus, the Armada DC offers superior connectivity and uptime compared to other DCs in the country. “In short, a carrier-neutral DC offers greater ISP resilience than its single-carrier counterparts. Having connections to multiple carriers backed by critical IT Infrastructure means that even if one carrier has an outage, colocation customers’ connectivity is not interrupted, and better resilience is assured for all customers,” the company stated.

“The Paratus Armada DC encourages interconnectivity between multiple telecommunications carriers, allowing multiple service providers to use the facilities and thereby enhancing service offerings to colocation clients. This broadens the appeal of the Armada DC because Paratus can serve any business – small, medium, or enterprise,” it added.

The Paratus Group serves customers in over 30 African countries and is the appointed partner to land the Equiano subsea cable in Namibia.

It said that with the new Armada DC in Windhoek, has now built four of its own datacentre facilities in three African countries, all of which will be ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and PCI DSS certified by Q4 2022.

Erasmus added: “For our colocation customers and tenants, the flexibility to switch network service providers is an added attraction. We will help with that transition which means they do not need to move or relocate any of their equipment or servers when they make any changes.”