Rogers Communications has significantly increased its ability to offer data services to organizations with the purchase of Primus Telecommunications BlackIron Data division.
Rogers said Wednesday that the deal for eight data centres in five cities across the country is worth $200 million.
The purchase will let Rogers Business Solutions enhance its suite of enterprise-level data centre and cloud computing services, Roger said in a statement. Canadian businesses will benefit from a single provider able to ensure end-to-end security and reliability of mission-critical business applications, it said.
“The cloud continues to enable businesses to innovate and evolve in a dynamic market,” said Terry Canning, senior vice-president of Rogers Business Solutions. This acquisition presents the cableco with a significant growth opportunity in the business-to-business market that aligns with its overall enterprise strategy,” he said.
The move also brings Rogers closer to rivals Bell Canada and Telus Corp. in offering data centre services. Major communications providers are turning to data centre services to broaden their offerings to businesses beyond telecommunications.
BlackIron has data centres in Toronto, Ottawa, London, Edmonton and Vancouver.
It recently opened a 50,000 sq. ft. Tier III data centre in Markham, Ont. According to the Uptime Institute, which created the yardstick, a Tier III centre offers multiple electrical delivery paths to provide greater redundancy.
