Saturday, February 21, 2009

Internode - Equinix Singapore

Company Information
Company Name	Internode
Also Known As	Agile
Company Website	http://www.internode.on.net
Primary ASN	4739
IRR Record	AS-4739
Network Type	Cable/DSL/ISP
Approx Prefixes	330
Traffic Levels	5-10Gbps
Traffic Ratios	Mostly Inbound
Geographic Scope	Asia Pacific
Looking Glass URL
Route Server URL
Notes	Please set max-prefix to 1000. Now at AMS-IX and LINX and Equinix Singapore. IPv6 capable everywhere now or very soon (JPIX Feb09). HKIX in early March.

Friday, February 20, 2009

Quality Tech IDC outage shows limits of technology… and SLAs

from Tier 1 Research daily newsletter:

Managed hosting and datacenter services provider Quality Technology Services experienced a brief power outage last Saturday morning at one of its two Atlanta metro area datacenters. The facility in question, located in Suwanee, Georgia, is about an hour north of downtown Atlanta ...

---

On July 26, 2007, Internap Network Services Corporation, or the Company, issued a press release announcing that it has entered into a three-year strategic relationship with Quality Technology Services, or QualityTech. The Company will be the preferred provider of content delivery network, or CDN, services and the exclusive provider of IP connectivity services to all of QualityTech’s data center facilities and will migrate to the Company’s IP connectivity services approximately 350 customers that QualityTech acquired in connection with its purchase of Globix Hosting LLC, a subsidiary of Globix Corporation, in October of 2006. The Company will also take down approximately 4,500 square feet of space in several of QualityTech’s data center facilities. This strategic relationship represents revenues of approximately $15 million for value-added CDN services and IP connectivity services over the three-year term. A copy of this press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1.

Germany purchases a second cyberknife

from the IV MB:

>>German purchases a second cyberknife

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.deutsche-medizinmesse.de/iframe_news_
details.php%3Fnews_id%3D93&ei=tyieSci5E5zgM93VmcsL&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=9&ct=result&prev=/search
%3Fq%3Dcyberknife%2BG%25C3%25BCstrow%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26as_qdr%3Dall

*** translated from German ***

Surgery without a scalpel

Cancer patients may soon high level of comfort in Güstrow enjoy
Güstrow, 13.01.2009

The completely pain-free treatment with Cyber Knife is worldwide in more than 150 centers and has approximately 50,000 people have hopes fulfilled.

In Germany, with Cyber Knife until now only in a Munich center worked. Alternative to conventional surgery with scalpel, anesthesia, wounds and bloody action, the Munich Radio surgeons have very many patients without the usual dangers and risks associated with the beaming robot can handle. The expansion of treatment capacity does not, to even more people as quickly as possible to be able to help.

The decision for the next CyberKnife center of Germany has liked few days ago. It is in Rostock in Güstrow adjacent to the hospital and are already in 2009 first patient can absorb.

Specifically for the application of this highly innovative cancer therapy emerged Cyber Knife Center Mecklenburg-Vorpommern GmbH builds the center in the coming months for more than 8 million euros. These investments are necessary for the building, its equipment and robotics. Under the guidance of a highly reputable radiation therapist, the skills necessary for dealing with radiation Robotic technology has to be physicists and medical technical assistants to the wellbeing of cancer patient care. Cyber Knife-Manager Mrs. Viola Völzer promises for approximately 450 patients per year capacity in the center. In close cooperation with the hospital CMM, the university hospitals in Rostock and Greifswald as well as with the tumor centers in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, everything done to the Cyber Knife appropriate to treat patients optimally.

Thursday, February 19, 2009

SoftLayer CDN still growing fast; tweaks intended to widen appeal

from Tier 1 Research daily newsletter - headline:

SoftLayer launched its CDN service last year through a reseller agreement with Internap Network Services. SoftLayer's team has continued to work with Internap on adding features, and in the meanwhile, SoftLayer has been adding lots of customers.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

The chief doctor of Kiev City Oncology Hospital urges the government to acquire a cyberknife - Ukraine

from the IV MB, some parts are hard to believe (In the next year in Ukraine is expected to identification of 190 000 new cases of cancer, of which 50% of patients with solitary tumors could be cured through the use of cyber-knife) and the collapse of the local economy probably makes things a bit more difficult...:

The chief doctor of Kiev City Oncology Hospital urges the government to acq a cyberknfie

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl=en&sl=ru&u=http://www.from-ua.com/voice/f1cf4fda6487d.html&
ei=YQObSafmEZDWMdnOyPcL&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=2&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dcyberknife%26start%3D120%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26sa%3DN%26as_qdr%3Dd

***** translated from Russian *****

Died without a knife

Cyber Knife

Treatment with the help of a cyber-knife is to date the most advanced way to combat cancer in the world.

The procedure for exposure of the equipment allows for the removal of cancerous tumors in any part of the human body, head, neck and spine with an accuracy of less than a millimeter, and without the use of painful frame.

1-5 factions - and not cancer. The patient rises to his feet and goes home .... All he had cured. You do not need chemicals, does not require surgery and anesthesia. It looks like a fairy tale, but it is reality. And this reality has become a reality for normal countries.

To understand how the civilized nations of the world concerned about the health of its citizens, would be sufficient to look at the list of States which have set the cyber knife act:

Asia. 38: -1 China, Hong Kong -1, China -5, Korea, -5, Malaysia - 1, Taiwan - 4 Turkey - 2, Japan -19;

Europe. 11: Germany - 1, Greece - 1, Spain - 2, Italy - 3, Netherlands - 1, France - 3;

Canada - 1;

Venezuela - 1;

UK - 1;

USA - 100 units.

Strangely, that Ukraine is not in this list. As if not to us, there are 960 000 officially registered cancer. As if not to our beautiful, fertilizer powder chemicals, radiation and land each year about 160 000 new cases of cancer. As if not ill with cancer in Kiev, each 56-second inhabitant. Do not we like it for every 1500 cases accounted for 900 deaths. Given the number of lines in the hospital, these figures are far from reality. In fact, the average physician is rarely faced with certain types of cancer. The share of the larynx, pancreas, kidney and urinary bladder accounts for up to 35% of all cancer deaths.

In the next year in Ukraine is expected to identification of 190 000 new cases of cancer, of which 50% of patients with solitary tumors could be cured through the use of cyber-knife.

So the company decided to offer Accuray equipment of our country. How, you may not have heard about this proposal? And I did not hear. Because information about the chance for Ukrainian patients has not been disclosed. Order did not arise in a society of unhealthy interest in magic equipment. Not to ask dying from cancer and their relatives from the officials: «But why cyber knife is not yet in Ukraine?».

The doctors are united in one thing: the equipment is not only necessary, it is vital in these circumstances, when the cancer went into first place in the list of reasons on which the Ukrainians died.

Here's the view of cyber-knife system, the chief doctor of Kiev City Oncology Hospital GP Oleynichenko.

Heart surgery simulator arrives in South Africa

from ITWeb Limited (enphasis added):

Medtronic product manager Rebecca Lai says the VCL is the only one of its kind in Africa and is one of 35 spread around the world, at 19 testing stations.

“The VCL was developed by Medtronic, in conjunction with Immersion Medical, in the US, who created the haptics technology to make the simulator more real,” explains Lai. “Currently, the simulator has 70% feedback quality.”

The simulator is a combination of a C-Arm scanner, a human dummy fitted with apparatus and software loaded with a number of cases to test the user. Lai adds that a number of the test cases used in the simulator were taken from real-life scenarios. The heart X-rays and MRI scans of the patients were copied and digitised into 3D images and animations that are included in the software for the simulator.

“The VCL offers real-time cardiovascular scenarios where the differentiating factor is the speed of which the user completes the procedures,” says Lai.

Equinix 4Q results: “a slow down in decision making, particularly from new customers”

Equinix (EQIX) reported 4Q and full year results on February, 11.

The headline we've used mirrors what the market has perceived as the main outcome of the call, together with the information that the Company was lowering, because of that, 2009 guidance, by roughly 2% [a $16 million haircut at midpoint, due in part to currency fluctuations (roughly $ 3 million)].

Given the fact that historically the Company has always exceeded expectations, and that this is the first time since the Internet bubble burst that guidance is revised downward, the 10% decrease experienced by the shares after earnings can be easily explained. The price is now below $50 as we write.

Growth Y/Y is still forecasted in the 20% range, a very sound number in this economic climate, but lower than the organic 38% growth experienced in 2008, and some reasons to be more conservative about the dynamics of the sector were introduced at the conference call.

As a side and final comment on this matter, Equinix has always gotten the majority of its new orders from the existing customer base (up to 80%), so this inertia in decision making (if limited mainly to new customers) might not really represent a big scare for the Company. However, it must be noted that the number of new customers in the quarter (110), is the smallest experienced this year (ranging from 144 to 178 previously). A new metric to follow closely in 2009, to see how this specific number develops, but may be not time to panic yet about a deep slow down in potential growth for the Company.

Before digging more into the numbers, we'll also add a few comments introducing a “we were wrong” section, related to our Earnings Forecast, previously published on Seeking Alpha.

We had predicted that Equinix might need to start planning new centers in Ashburn (Washington DC metro) and Silicon Valley – on the contrary, three new expansions in different locations were announced: Chicago (downtown, in what is known as CHI2), Los Angeles, (the unused portion of LA1), and Hong Kong (HK 1 phase IV).

These are “small size” expansions (we would probably call them fine tuning the potential of the assets), that will still add some 900 cabinets in the 4Q 2009 (as a reminder Equinix experienced an average net add of about 1,400 cabinets every quarter, in the USA and Asia, in 2008).

As to the Washington, DC and Silicon Valley markets, these were the comments made during the call (transcripts available from Seeking Alpha):

Mark Kelleher - Canaccord Adams

Could you just tell us where you stand with capacity utilization in the U.S.?

Stephen M. Smith (Equinix CEO)

Sure. Today, the simplest way to think about it:

...

D.C., we're in good shape. We have plenty of capacity in D.C. for the foreseeable future; I'd call it out to four quarters worth of visibility for the full year.

...

Silicon Valley we're in good shape.

The only way we have to try to explain our thinking is that we never thought that Equinix was out of space right now, but as greenfield builds require about 12/18 months, and given the recent success rate in these markets, we did expect that a proper planning had to be put in place (and announced) well ahead of actually being out of space. Unless the Company experiences a complete change in demand, we still expect some sort of expansion announcement probably in the second half of the year for these locations. This was not ruled out during the call (emphasis added):

Stephen M. Smith

Number three, on the CapEx front our $325 to $375 million plan includes approximately $285 million of announced expansion and ongoing CapEx and includes the three expansions we announced today. There's also approximately $40 to $90 million in our guidance for potential expansion projects that we're contemplating but have not yet committed to. Said differently, our CapEx guidance can still absorb incremental expansion announcements up to $90 million without requiring us to increase our capital guidance.

The competitive landscape is also interesting (this is also taken from the conference call):

Manuel Recarey - Kaufman Brothers

You talked about the supply constraint that's out there. Is there any particular geographic areas or markets that are more constrained than others?

Stephen M. Smith

From our inventory, Manny?

Manuel Recarey - Kaufman Brothers

More from a market perspective where you'd see, I guess you'd end up seeing better pricing holding up just due to the supply being more constrained.

Stephen M. Smith

Yes, I'd say we've seen some builds slow down or get stopped in certain markets, like in the Silicon Valley and in the D.C. area, in and around call it our peer group space. It certainly has an effect on capacity between retail and wholesale business.

In particular, in the Silicon Valley two Companies, Dupont Fabros and Terremark, announced their decision to delay their expansion plans, due to lack of capital available – this is taken form a recent article on Data Center Knowledge:

Terremark Delays Santa Clara Project

Terremark (TMRK) has decided to delay construction on its planned data center in Santa Clara, Calif., saying it will instead focus its development budget on its booming business at its data fortress in Virginia, the NAP of the Capital Region.

Terremark’s planned expansion on Corvin Drive is the second major data center project in Santa Clara sidelined by capital constraints related to the credit crunch. DuPont Fabros Technology (DFT) halted development of a $270 million data center in Santa Clara in October after it was able to borrow less than it hoped to fund the project.

The postponements are likely to mean a tighter market for data center space in Santa Clara, which has been the busiest area in Silicon Valley due to low power rates from the local utility, Silicon Valley Power. While there is no immediate space crunch, the mothballing of the two projects eliminates at least 200,000 square feet of data center space that was to arrive in 2009 .

Terremark’s decision will leave fewer choices for companies seeking substantial chunks of data center space in Santa Clara. The only new inventory slated to come on the market in the city in 2009 is a project being built by CRG West. The 50,000 square foot first phase of the three-building campus is scheduled to be finished in the fourth quarter of 2009. Of existing inventory, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) has wholesale data center space remaining in two of the seven buildings it owns in Santa Clara.

Both Terremark and DuPont Fabros (DFT) say they remain enthusiastic about Santa Clara, and hope to eventually complete their projects. ”This is in no way a reflection of the Santa Clara market, but a decision to manage our capital efficiently,” said Terremark CEO Manuel Medina.

In spite of these negative aspects, we still believe that Equinix delivered some good numbers, and a few metrics are worth a second look.

Revenues increased in all areas:

US was up 5,8%
Asia was up 11,3%
Europe was up roughly 11 %, on a same currency basis, although it shows a decline of 4,6% in US currency (as we underlined in our forecast, the main issue being the decline in value of the British Sterling in the quarter)

Absent this FX impact, Equinix would have well exceeded consensus for the quarter.

Keith D. Taylor

On a constant currency basis, assuming we kept our currencies constant with the average rates in effect during Q3, our Q4 revenues would have been $198.8 million or 8% greater than our Q3 reported revenues.

A few comments during the call supporting our analysis:

Stephen M. Smith

In our European market our financial performance beat our expectations for the quarter and the year, despite the unfavorable impact of currency fluctuations. Our capacity for growth in this region is generally good in all markets, with expansion activity in London, Paris, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, all of which are on track at this time. Many of our competitors also continue to expand, but with much smaller projects, leaving us better positioned for growth.

Jonathan Schildkraut - Jefferies & Company

A couple of questions on year up. You know, revenues contracted quarter-over-quarter. What happened here? Was this just primarily currency headwinds? And maybe if you could quantify the currency headwind as it applied just to Europe, that would be helpful.

...

Keith D. Taylor

I think it's very appropriate that you bring up the European matter. If we adjust for the currency impact, I think, as everybody knows, the impact of the sterling in Q4, it was a very dramatic movement and, for that matter, Euro, but Euro was a little bit more stable. Had we not seen the sterling depreciate so quickly, the average rates that we used for the quarter close would have had us increasing on a neutral basis 11% quarter-over-quarter, so substantial growth. So the growth that you saw in Asia, we're seeing the same equivalent growth rate on a fundamental local basis in Europe as well, 11%.

What is also interesting about Europe is the nice increase in margins achieved: cash gross margins were 57% in the 4Q 2008, compared with 49% in the 3Q 2008 and 39% one year ago.

Other sources also seem to indicate that the market in Europe remains solid – this is taken from a recent press release by Tariff Consultancy Ltd:

Data Centre Rack pricing increased by an average of 8.5% across Europe during 2008, with more price increases forecast for 2009

Looking forward into 2009 it is likely that there will continue to be moderate price increases in most countries. Data Centre operators continue to report strong customer demand despite the downturn, as enterprises continue to outsource their IT infrastructure to a third party provider as the cost of managing their in-house facility continues to rise.

"Although there is an economic downturn taking place, there is no immediate sign of a slowdown in demand for Data Centre space," commented Margrit Sessions, Managing Director of Tariff Consultancy Ltd. "Strong customer demand is buoyed by the outsourcing of non-core activities and continues to support the development of new Data Centre space. This demand also allows the operator to selectively raise pricing across all of the main European markets, and we anticipate that average pricing will continue to rise," Sessions added.

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) also came out with similar comments on its February, 17 P/R:

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR - News), the world's largest wholesale datacentre provider, has released the results of a new study of the datacentre market in Europe that assesses the datacentre plans of European companies and the trends that will shape the datacentre industry in the near term. The study, which succeeds the one Digital Realty Trust released in early 2008 about the European datacentre market, is based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for datacentres or influence significant decisions related to datacentre operations at large European organisations. The research was conducted for Digital Realty Trust by the respected research firm Campos Research and Analysis.

Key findings of the new study include:

More than four out of five companies surveyed are planning datacentre expansions within the next two years.
More than a quarter of surveyed companies are actively planning immediate datacentre expansion projects that are commencing in 2009, and 69 percent of companies are planning projects that will commence in 12-24 months.
Compared to last year's survey results, there has been a 117 percent increase in the number of firms that will seek more than 2,500 square metres for their datacentres, indicating that the scope of datacentre projects has grown significantly.
Compared to last year's survey results, there has been a 22 percent increase in projected average datacentre space requirements from 1,300 square metres to 1,600 square metres - a significant increase that will impact the balance of supply and demand for datacentre space in European markets.

"Despite the dramatic changes in the economic climate, this year's results indicate that an even larger proportion of European companies are planning datacentre projects. Moreover, these projects are bigger by every measure," said Bernard Geoghegan, Senior Vice President at Digital Realty Trust who oversees International Operations. "These trends corroborate what we are continuing to hear from so many of our customers - that datacentres have become critical corporate assets that ensure competitiveness in difficult times and that will drive growth when economic conditions improve."

Back to a few highlights from Equinix results:

while lowering revenues, EBITDA guidance was reaffirmed, confirming the operating leverage of the business;
pricing is still holding well all over most markets covered by the Company;
churn is still forecasted in the 2% range per quarter, in spite of the challenging economy;
cabinets pricing and MRR are still trending nicely toward the targets fixed by the Company;
Europe is showing some signs of increase in the interconnection business (that will take a while to develop, as it did in Asia, but will positively impact margins);
pipeline is still described as strong, although it remains to be seen at what pace it will be translated into additional orders;
expansion is basically on track, and fully funded.

We still remain positive on the long term potential of the sector and Equinix in particular, especially toward 2010 and after, when colocation might experience a stronger demand and little supply.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Advantage Futures Announces New Equinix Frankfurt Data Center

P/R by Advantage Futures:

Advantage Futures Announces New Equinix Frankfurt Data Center

CHICAGO, Feb. 17 IL-Advantage-Futures

CHICAGO, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Advantage Futures, the premier futures
brokerage firm, today announced its new server hosting data center at Equinix
in Frankfurt, Germany. Joseph Guinan, Founder, Chairman and CEO, Advantage
Futures, made the announcement.

Advantage Futures is pleased to now offer their Equinix Frankfurt data
center, in addition to their current server hosting data centers located in
Chicago and Houston. This new data center provides clients with a quick direct
connection to the Eurex exchange. Our state-of-the-art data center offers
technologically advanced network equipment and security devices. It also
includes wide bandwidth connections from Chicago to Frankfurt and high
bandwidth internet access providing customers the ability to connect via a
secure Cisco VPN client or a secure VPN tunnel. The Frankfurt data center
incorporates a redundant Trading Technologies server environment, and hosts
access to the CME Group and ICE Exchanges as well. All of this is backed by
24-hour security and support.

"The Advantage Futures new state-of-the-art data center will offer
Advantage Futures clients a faster connection to Eurex," said Tom Guinan,
Chief Information Officer, Advantage Futures. "This new facility is a
continuation of the Advantage Futures commitment to providing our clients with
every edge possible. Our new data center offers colocation, internet access
and direct network access to Eurex and several other exchanges."

About Advantage Futures

Advantage Futures is a premier futures brokerage firm for professional,
institutional, and active individual traders with best-in-class clearing and
execution services provided with high-quality client service and
technologically efficient solutions. We provide clients with a superior
technology infrastructure, redundant exchange connectivity and 24-hour
technology support. Our multimillion dollar investment in state-of-the art
equipment provides our clients with extremely fast trading delta times while
ensuring reliability and security. Advantage Futures technology investment
also includes server hosting facilities, robust exchange connectivity, and
fully redundant back office and accounting systems. We support trading on
almost all domestic and foreign exchanges either through our direct clearing
memberships or through various correspondent broker relationships. Our
management team has extraordinary industry experience and a strong reputation
for integrity. Advantage Futures has processed over one billion contracts
since its inception in June 2003. For more information, call Advantage Futures
at 312-756-6300 or visit http://www.advantagefutures.com.

Technology's bargain bin

from CNN Money - Fortune:

Mike Lippert, portfolio manager for Baron iOpportunity fund, likes to focus on free discretionary cash flow, which he defines as cash flow from operations minus the capital expenditures required to keep the company at its current size. He believes this figure gives him a good snapshot of the company's earnings power. He compares his cash-flow figure with the company's stock price and its projected long-term growth rate to find undervalued shares.

One stock that looks cheap to Lippert by this measure is Equinix (EQIX). The company, based in Foster City, Calif., operates data centers that act as hubs for the Internet. Customers include companies like Google, IBM, Microsoft, and Sony, among thousands of others that distribute content and services over the Internet. As the largest player in the field, Equinix can handle more capacity and offer faster access speeds than smaller rivals. And Equinix management has said it expects its earnings to outstrip its capital expenditures, which means it will be able to add data centers without needing to go into the frozen credit markets. Lippert figures that Equinix trades at about nine times his 2009 estimate for free discretionary cash flow, when historically it has traded at about 15 times. "At this valuation," he says, "it's hard to pass up."

Research Study Finds an Increasing Number of European Companies Planning to Expand Datacentres

press release by DLR:

Independent Survey Commissioned by Digital Realty Trust Indicates that Datacentre Projects for the Coming 12-24 Months Have Increased and Expanded in Scope Despite Economic Conditions

DUBLIN, Feb. 17 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: DLR - News), the world's largest wholesale datacentre provider, has released the results of a new study of the datacentre market in Europe that assesses the datacentre plans of European companies and the trends that will shape the datacentre industry in the near term. The study, which succeeds the one Digital Realty Trust released in early 2008 about the European datacentre market, is based on a detailed survey of senior decision makers who are either directly responsible for datacentres or influence significant decisions related to datacentre operations at large European organisations. The research was conducted for Digital Realty Trust by the respected research firm Campos Research and Analysis.

Key findings of the new study include:

More than four out of five companies surveyed are planning datacentre expansions within the next two years.
More than a quarter of surveyed companies are actively planning immediate datacentre expansion projects that are commencing in 2009, and 69 percent of companies are planning projects that will commence in 12-24 months.
Compared to last year's survey results, there has been a 117 percent increase in the number of firms that will seek more than 2,500 square metres for their datacentres, indicating that the scope of datacentre projects has grown significantly.
Compared to last year's survey results, there has been a 22 percent increase in projected average datacentre space requirements from 1,300 square metres to 1,600 square metres - a significant increase that will impact the balance of supply and demand for datacentre space in European markets.

Other findings of note in the new study include:

A 21 percent increase compared to last year's survey in average power capacity per rack (4.7kW v. 5.7kW) that companies are projecting, which is a significant metric for datacentre power requirements.
More than 60 percent of companies plan to use a partner to expand rather than taking a do-it-yourself approach to these large datacentre projects.
Companies identified London as the top location for the datacentre projects being planned. Paris was identified as the second most popular location for upcoming datacentre projects.

"This survey supports the strong demand for datacentre space we are continuing to see in London and Paris. These markets already have a significant imbalance between demand for datacentre facilities and very limited supply, and this study indicates that those will continue to be key locations for corporate datacentre projects over the next two years," Geoghegan added.

About the Methodology

Metrics reported in this study are based on Web-based surveys of IT decision makers at large corporations in four European countries: the U.K., France, Germany and Ireland. All surveyed companies have annual revenues of at least euro 1.0 billion and/or at least 2000+ employees. All survey participants are directly involved in the process of managing corporate datacentres, executing contracts for new datacentres, implementing new datacentres or expanding existing datacentres. All participants were senior level executives, including CxOs, in MIS, IS or Finance. The survey was conducted in October 2008.

Data Centre Rack pricing increased by an average of 8.5% across Europe during 2008, with more price increases forecast for 2009

a press release by Tariff Consultancy Ltd:

The latest Data Centre Price Tracker survey of 14 European countries reveals that average per Rack pricing rose by 8.5% during 2008. Countries that saw the highest per Rack price rises in 2008 include Portugal (30%), Denmark (24%) and France (17%).

In all countries Data Centre operators are raising prices as newly furbished space is introduced to the market and are introducing new types of Rack product which reflect the costs of providing enhanced power which increases the average price per rack. The main price determinant for a Data Centre operator is now the cost of power rather than the actual physical space cost.

There remains a large difference in average rack prices per country in the 14 country survey. Italy remains the lowest average priced country for rack space (545 Euro per month), followed by Germany (673 Euro per month).

By contrast, Denmark (1,300 Euro per month), Switzerland (1,040 Euro per month), France (1,029 Euro per month) and the UK & Austria (both on 1,024 Euro per month) have now the highest average rack prices in the survey.

Looking forward into 2009 it is likely that there will continue to be moderate price increases in most countries. Data Centre operators continue to report strong customer demand despite the downturn, as enterprises continue to outsource their IT infrastructure to a third party provider as the cost of managing their in-house facility continues to rise.

As new Data Centres enter service in 2009 operators will seek to ensure that they receive an economic return on the cost of their investment. The cost of new build facilities that are required to meet customer demand for space continues to increase.

The cost of recently announced new build facilities ranges from Euro 33 million (TelecityGroup's development in Stockholm) to Euro 110 million (Equinix's development in London) and underlines the scale of the investment now required.

Industrial electricity costs continue to rise - with an increase in price of more than 20% during the past 12 months. Overall, France, Sweden and Switzerland have consistently the lowest industrial electricity prices in Europe, and Italy, Spain and the UK have among the highest industrial electricity rates. Industrial electricity pricing is projected to continue to be volatile in the months ahead.

"Although there is an economic downturn taking place, there is no immediate sign of a slowdown in demand for Data Centre space," commented Margrit Sessions, Managing Director of Tariff Consultancy Ltd. "Strong customer demand is buoyed by the outsourcing of non-core activities and continues to support the development of new Data Centre space. This demand also allows the operator to selectively raise pricing across all of the main European markets, and we anticipate that average pricing will continue to rise," Sessions added.

Internap contract

taken from a post on :

It is a circuit we ordered well over a year ago with a low commitment when XO committed to build in to the facility. Another reason for ordering it was that we paid Internap almost double for traffic bound for XO. With our new Internap contract the XO aged contract is actually within $1 per Mbps of the Internap.

----

Colo4Dallas -- 28,000 sf of private datacenter space (additional 78,000 sf under construction)
Internap, Level3, TW Telecom BGP with Internap FCP 5200
Take an online tour of Colo4Dallas
Paul's blog

Insight into data centre industry

from Comms Express:

The Data Centre World Conference & Expo (DCWCE) has invited a leading industry expert to delve into the future development of the data centre sector.

Eric Schwartz, president of Equinix Europe, which provides data centre solutions and networking equipment to a global customer base, will provide attendees of the DCWCE with an insight into developments that will take place during 2009.

Meanwhile, Equinix executives will be on hand to discuss the firm's strategy for the European market and how the company will meet its customers demands during the current economic downturn.

"As more businesses turn to providers of data centre services to protect and connect their valued information assets, the industry is playing an increasingly important role in ensuring the vitality of the information-driven world," said Mr Schwartz.

Samsung strategy is simple: touchscreens

a post by cellodude on the IV MB:

>>Samsung strategy is simple: touchscreens

[For Samsung Mobile, the future of mobile phones is all about the touchscreen. The company said today during its press conference at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that its 2009 strategy will be "a mobile to touch every lifestyle" adding that it plans to lead the trend in touchscreen phones in 2009. "People love touchscreens. The touch market will increase radically this year. There are a number of things we can do with touchscreen phones. Touch creates a better multimedia experience," said YH Lee, vice president of global marketing for Samsung Mobile.]

http://www.investorvillage.com/smbd.asp?mb=238&mn=44442&pt=msg&mid=6692807

Also they're confident in spite of the economy:

["I am confident to predict, however, that Samsung Mobile will grow again this year. Let me say that again: We are confident Samsung Mobile will achieve continuous growth in 2009, despite the worst economy in years."]

http://www.itpro.co.uk/609885/mwc-09-samsungs-touch-screen-downturn-strategy

China releases two CK which were archived last Sep

a summary of what's happening in China from a post by yyy60 on the IV MB:

>>China releases two CK which were archived last Sep

Last Sep China’s Ministry of Health archived four CK in Mainland because they were purchased by hospitals without Ministry’s approval. Now 2 (Shanghai & Tianjin) of the 4 CK are released.

http://www.medicenter.cn/base/2009/0215/article_1654.htm

The Ministry also set the requirement for hospitals to acquire CK or TOMO:

(1) General Hospital – over 800 beds, annual out-patient not less than 1.2M, cancer patient more than 10K…etc

(2) Cancer specialist hospital – over 500 beds, annual out-patient not less than 150K, in-patient more than 15K….etc

(3) Private Hospital …..etc

http://www.medicenter.cn/base/2009/0215/article_1655.htm

Monday, February 16, 2009

Samsung Memoir™

Samsung Memoir™ Makes Official Debut at Mobile World Congress 2009

BARCELONA, Spain - (Business Wire) Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) and T-Mobile USA, along with photographer and model Helena Christensen today officially unveiled the Samsung Memoir™, a touch-screen phone with an impressive 8-megapixel camera for premium imaging functionality, to be available exclusively through T-Mobile USA beginning February 25, 2009.

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With full HTML web browsing capabilities and T-Mobile’s 3G network, users can also download images or videos and instantly make updates to social networking sites. In addition, the Memoir features a music and video player, as well as multiple messaging capabilities, full touch virtual QWERTY keypad with haptic feedback and Assisted GPS.