Megaport opens new routes through US, Singapore, Hong Kong

Australian interconnection services provider Megaport has announced opening a new connectivity route between Los Angeles and Hong Kong, as well as a secondary path between Singapore and Hong Kong.

Megaport said it has opened the second Singapore-Hong Kong path due to high traffic along this route. Both routes allow enterprise customers to connect directly to Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google thanks to Megaport's partnerships, without needing a physical presence of their own in all locations.

"This link represents a great step forward for Megaport from a growth standpoint, as we not only are enabling a secondary path between Singapore to Hong Kong to keep up with demand, but are also linking two of our key markets," said Megaport CEO Denver Maddux.

"Through this new route, we are able to bring together Megaport's backbone in Asia and our terrestrial network in North America, therein providing a more immersive network and a richer fabric through the increased number of customers, partners, and providers on the combined footprint."

Megaport also switched on its link on the transatlantic AE Connect 13TB subsea cable connecting New York, London, and Dublin last week under a partnership with the cable's owner, Aqua Comms.

The interconnection services provider in October reported revenue of AU$1.8 million for the first quarter of the 2016-17 financial year, up 91 percent "due to organic growth, acquisitions, and execution of key strategic partnerships".

As of the end of September, the company had 1,409 ports, 132 datacentre locations, and 83 percent more customers, at 561, in 19 countries. It connected to 13 datacentres in Australia, the United States, and Europe over the July-September quarter, with 40 now present in the APAC region after additions in Perth and Sydney; 33 in North America after additions in Portland and Las Vegas; and 48 in Europe after nine additions in Amsterdam, Dublin, London, and Stockholm.

"Partnerships with datacentre operators, internet exchanges, and other channel partners forged in the previous fiscal year are generating revenue," Maddux explained at the time.

"Our European acquisitions have contributed not only to our revenue, but to our ecosystem of service providers and strategic datacentres. Combined, we have nearly doubled our revenue run rate from the previous quarter. Our partnership, acquisition, and local go-to-market strategies are coming together to capture market share."

During the quarter, Megaport formed a partnership with Digital Realty; formed an Open Alliance agreement with 4Degrees datacentres in Montreal and Quebec City, Canada; and acquired Berlin-based internet exchange operator Peering GmbH for AU$1.9 million, which added 180 customers and 30 datacentres to Megaport's stable.

The acquisition of the German internet exchange operator will contribute around AU$4.5 million to Megaport's annual revenue, according to the company.

Megaport's AU$3.1 million acquisitions of ECIX and OM-NIX in July last year gave it presence in Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, Nuremberg, and Hamburg, Germany; London, United Kingdom; Vienna, Austria; Stockholm, Sweden; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Dublin, Ireland; Luxembourg; Moscow, Russia; Sofia and Kapitan Andreevo, Bulgaria; Thessaloniki, Greece; Skopje, Macedonia; Bucharest, Romania; and Kiev, Ukraine.

Megaport recently raised AU$31 million in capital through a share purchase plan (SPP) in order to continue its global expansion.

It also announced signing a deal with non-profit company Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) to exclusively provide multi-cloud connectivity to AMS-IX customers in Hong Kong, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Chicago.

In June, Megaport signed Verizon Media Digital Services as a new customer in a "long-term" agreement in the Asia-Pacific region and the United States, along with Fujitsu Australia and New Zealand as a reseller of Megaport services in Australia.