Frankfurt: the 2023 Data Hotspot?

In our last issue we asked you which of five cities (London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Marseille and Madrid) is likely to experience the fastest data growth by end 2023. According to you, this year’s most likely data growth winner is  Frankfurt, followed closely by Amsterdam. Thanks for sending us your views. 

Frankfurt has a lot going for it: 

• Huge range of high-growth data-intensive industries
• Leading gateway to Eastern Europe  
• Thriving financial sector
• Advanced data centre infrastructure  

Frankfurt already has a robust fiber network infrastructure and is known for its advanced infrastructure. The citys position as a critical node for internet exchange and data traffic (think DE-CIX) continues to drive the growth and expansion of fiber networks. Despite some slowdown in data centre builds due to local zoning, Frankfurt is expected to continue experiencing significant growth in fiber networks to meet this increasing demand. 

Running a close second, with ongoing investments in technology and innovation, Amsterdam is likely to continue witnessing fast data growth by the end of 2023. 

London came third. As a global financial and technological hub, London generates and reroutes vast amounts of data. The city's diverse industries, including finance, media, and technology, contribute to data growth. 

Our list also included Marseille and Madrid, While these cities are growing extremely fast as data hubs, overall levels cannot yet compete with the FLAP metros, but this may well change over the next few years.

Marseille traffic has grown exponentially due to its role as a gateway for intercontinental data traffic. Its strategic location makes it an important gateway for data traffic between Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, knowing to be an important hub with intercontinental submarine cables.  

With a massive amount of data centre investment committed in the last year, Madrid too will be a strong contender in a year or so. Google, Meta, IBM and AWS are all building out cloud zones here, and according to CBRE Data Center Solutions research there are already commitments to grow Madrid’s data center capacity to 435 MW by end 2024.  5G is up and running, reaching the majority of the population, and Spain now has the highest FTTH penetration of any country in the EU, with ultrafast broadband covering 87 percent of the country.

Many thanks for sharing your views with us. We look forward to seeing what traffic levels are like in these metros by the end of the year, and how quickly the ‘second tier’ hubs manage to catch up with Europe’s leading hotspots.