SBA pulls ahead in the edge-computing race

Cell-tower giant SBA Communications appears to be creating a sizable lead in the 5G industry’s race to edge computing. The company recently disclosed that it is in the midst of operating or constructing 30-40 edge-computing sites around the country – that’s more than many of the company’s competitors and customers.

“I would say we probably have either in operation or under construction 30 to 40 of these facilities,” said SBA CEO Jeff Stoops on the company’s recent quarterly conference call. “And the primary demand for them has been edge computing and fiber and cable regeneration. But what we found to be the key to success in this area is really the state of – and the location of – the tower site, because where it’s ready to go and it’s close to or on top of existing fiber makes all that much more attractive. So on an absolute basis, yes, we’ve seen a lot of growth. On a financial basis, it’s still, of course, very small. But we’re encouraged by what we’ve seen.”

Stoops said each site costs around $100,000.

The comments help clarify SBA’s embrace of edge computing in general. The company built its first edge-computing site in Boston in 2018 via a teaming with vendor Packet; Packet was subsequently acquired by data-center giant Equinix. By 2020, SBA’s edge-computing outlook had hardened following its purchase of two bigger data centers (one in Chicago and one in Florida) and the company’s promise to offer “over 8,000 pre-qualified tower sites in the US as locations where we can situate an edge data center with access to secure space, power and fiber.”

The company has since been offering purpose-built edge-computing data-center options for enterprise customers – complete with promises of 100% uptime, dynamic cooling and 24/7 on-site security – through its “SBA Edge” website. However, the company hasn’t disclosed the extent of that operation, until now.

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