edge computing data center competition

overview

edge computing data centers bring compute and storage closer to end users, reducing latency for real-time applications. this analysis examines 41 projects totaling 5.7 gw of capacity across providers including compass datacenters, aligned data centers, dc blox, flexential, edgeconnex, and hunt midwest.

key findings

• compass leads capacity: 4,050 mw across 6 projects (71.1% market share)
• aligned leads geographic diversity: 8 projects across 7 states
• dc blox dominates southeast: 10 facilities across 6 southeastern states
• 5g driving growth: telecom partnerships accelerating edge deployment
• hybrid model: blending hyperscale campuses with regional edge facilities

market share by capacity

note: edge focus indicates percentage of projects truly edge-positioned vs hyperscale

compass datacenters

competitive position

compass operates 6 projects across 5 states with 4,050 mw capacity. despite “datacenters” branding, company primarily develops hyperscale campuses rather than distributed edge facilities.

major projects

strategic differentiators

• hyperscale campuses: focuses on 300-1,000+ mw developments
• emerging markets: mississippi, arizona, suburban chicago
• build-to-suit: customer pre-commitments for large blocks
• qts partnership: overlapping ownership in prince william gateway
• power-first: sites selected for multi-gw utility capacity

business model evolution

compass started with regional edge positioning but pivoted to hyperscale campuses. current portfolio more competitive with qts/vantage than true edge providers.

aligned data centers

competitive position

aligned operates 8 projects across 7 states with 1,100 mw capacity. company focuses on wholesale colocation in primary and secondary markets.

major projects

strategic differentiators

• 100% renewable energy: all facilities powered by carbon-free sources
• patented cooling: adaptive thermal management system
• wholesale focus: serves hyperscale and large enterprise customers
• speed to market: 12-18 month delivery timelines
• repeatable design: standardized pods enable rapid scaling

customer segmentation

• cloud providers: 40%+ revenue
• content delivery: 25% (streaming, gaming)
• enterprise: 20% (financial services, saas)
• network operators: 15%

dc blox

competitive position

dc blox operates 10 projects across 6 southeastern states with 333 mw capacity. company represents true edge model with distributed regional facilities.

major projects

strategic differentiators

• southeast focus: underserved tier 2/3 markets
• subsea cable: palm coast cable landing station (florida)
• carrier-neutral: 60+ network providers interconnected
• enterprise edge: government, healthcare, manufacturing customers
• regional strategy: “no location more than 100 miles from customer”

market positioning

dc blox exemplifies true edge computing model with distributed facilities serving regional enterprises rather than hyperscale campuses.

flexential

competitive position

flexential operates 10 projects across 6 states with 175 mw capacity. company focuses on enterprise colocation with managed services in regional markets.

major projects

strategic differentiators

• managed services: colocation plus cloud, security, networking
• regional metro: 25+ facilities across us
• enterprise focus: 100% enterprise/mid-market
• hybrid cloud: vmware, aws, azure, google partnerships
• compliance: hipaa, pci-dss, soc certifications

service portfolio

• colocation: retail/wholesale space
• cloud: private, public, hybrid orchestration
• security: firewall, ids/ips, siem
• networking: mpls, sd-wan, internet transit
• professional services: migration, consulting

edgeconnex

competitive position

edgeconnex operates 2 documented projects with 30 mw capacity, but likely has larger undisclosed portfolio. company focuses on distributed edge in tier 2/3 markets.

major projects

strategic differentiators

• true edge model: 40+ facilities globally
• modular design: rapid deployment in secondary markets
• carrier partnerships: verizon, at&t, t-mobile 5g backhaul
• content delivery: streaming, gaming workloads
• international: presence across north america, europe, asia

business model

edgeconnex builds small (1-10 mw) facilities in regional markets where hyperscalers won’t deploy. target latency less than 5ms to population centers.

hunt midwest

competitive position

hunt midwest operates 1 documented project (project kestrel) in kansas. company is real estate developer diversifying into data centers.

major project

strategic differentiators

• kansas city metro: midwest logistics hub
• industrial legacy: large land holdings for development
• google partnership: existing hunt midwest business center hosts google
• logistics infrastructure: fiber, power, real estate expertise

competitive dynamics

hyperscale vs true edge

the edge market exhibits confusion between hyperscale regional campuses (compass, aligned) and true distributed edge (dc blox, edgeconnex):

hyperscale regional: 100-1,000+ mw campuses in secondary markets distributed edge: 1-50 mw facilities in tier 2/3 cities

geographic strategies

southeast (dc blox): underserved region, growing enterprises midwest (aligned, hunt midwest): cheap power, central location mountain west (aligned): salt lake city, phoenix growth markets pacific northwest (aligned, flexential, edgeconnex): renewable power

customer segmentation

enterprise edge (dc blox, flexential): local businesses, regional healthcare, state/local government hyperscale edge (compass, aligned): cloud providers seeking cheaper power than northern virginia content delivery (edgeconnex): streaming, gaming requiring low latency 5g backhaul (all): telecom partnerships for mobile edge computing

service differentiation

wholesale colocation (compass, aligned): power, space, cooling only managed services (flexential): full-stack infrastructure management interconnection (dc blox): regional network hubs edge computing (edgeconnex): ultra-low latency workloads

5g and mobile edge computing

telecom partnerships

verizon: edgeconnex, aligned partnerships for mec at&t: multi-provider edge strategy t-mobile: evaluating regional edge deployments crown castle: tower company investigating edge facilities

use cases

autonomous vehicles: less than 10ms latency requirements industrial iot: manufacturing, smart cities gaming: cloud gaming, ar/vr content delivery: video streaming, software updates smart cities: traffic management, public safety

deployment timeline

• 2023-2024: pilot deployments, architecture validation
• 2025-2026: accelerated rollout in major metros
• 2027-2028: tier 2/3 city expansion
• 2029-2030: ubiquitous edge computing

market outlook

capacity growth

edge market growing 15-20% annually, slower than hyperscale but from smaller base. 5g adoption driving acceleration.

consolidation trends

• hyperscale convergence: edge providers pivoting to larger campuses
• telco acquisitions: carriers may acquire edge providers
• reit conversions: private companies going public
• international expansion: us players entering european/asian markets

power and location

power availability: edge sites constrained by local utility capacity fiber connectivity: dark fiber requirements driving site selection land costs: lower in secondary markets but still material permitting: faster than hyperscale campuses in primary markets

technology trends

modular construction: prefab data centers accelerate deployment liquid cooling: necessary for ai workloads at edge renewable energy: corporate mandates driving solar/wind ppas automation: lights-out operations reduce operating costs

competitive threats

hyperscaler private regions: aws outposts, azure stack, google anthos tower companies: american tower, crown castle entering market regional telcos: building owned facilities international players: equinix, ntt expanding regionally

use case analysis

latency-sensitive applications

financial trading: less than 1ms to exchanges (not edge, proximity hosting) online gaming: less than 20ms to players (true edge opportunity) video conferencing: less than 50ms acceptable (cdn sufficient) iot/industrial: less than 10ms for control systems (edge critical)

data sovereignty

state/local government: data residency requirements driving regional facilities healthcare: hipaa compliance, patient data locality financial services: regulatory requirements, disaster recovery european data: gdpr driving european edge deployments

content delivery

streaming video: netflix, disney+, etc. regional caches gaming: microsoft xcloud, nvidia geforce now edge nodes software distribution: os updates, app stores social media: facebook, instagram content caching

regional market analysis

southeast (dc blox stronghold)

drivers: population growth, enterprise expansion, underserved historically challenges: utility capacity constraints, fiber availability opportunity: 20-30% annual growth, minimal competition

midwest (aligned/hunt midwest)

drivers: cheap power, central geography, manufacturing resurgence challenges: lower population density, enterprise adoption opportunity: hyperscale overflow from chicago, renewable energy

mountain west (aligned/flexential)

drivers: utah/arizona tech growth, renewable energy challenges: water scarcity, summer heat opportunity: silicon valley overflow, western us coverage

pacific northwest (multiple players)

drivers: cheap hydro power, fiber infrastructure, tech hub challenges: high competition, seismic risks opportunity: asia-pacific connectivity, renewable energy leadership

data sources

analysis based on 604 documented us data center projects. edge facilities often smaller and less disclosed than hyperscale campuses. capacity figures represent disclosed values; actual edge deployments likely exceed documented projects.

last updated: october 17, 2025