- Raleigh site marks American Tower’s first Aggregation Edge Data Centre in the U.S.
- Facility designed to serve as a “middle mile” hub between cloud and edge computing
New facility aims to bolster AI, hybrid cloud, and IoT capabilities
American Tower Corporation has officially opened its new Edge data centre in Raleigh, North Carolina, marking the company’s Aggregation Edge Data Centre in the United States. The facility, known as RA1, is situated at the base of an existing American Tower cellular tower and was inaugurated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony in May 2025.
RA1 spans 4,000 square feet and currently offers 1 megawatt (MW) of power capacity, with plans to expand up to 4MW across 16,000 square feet. The data centre employs direct expansion cooling and assisted hot aisle containment, delivering an average of 15 kilowatts per rack.
Designed to function as a colocation and interconnection hub, RA1 aims to serve as the “middle mile” between centralised cloud data centres and edge computing environments. This strategic positioning is intended to reduce latency and improve performance for applications reliant on real-time data processing.
Also Read: Zendo secures $2.2M to help data centres cut emissions
Also Read: CoreSite upgrades IP routing with Nokia across U.S. data centres
Why it’s important
The launch of RA1 represents a significant step in American Tower’s strategy to expand its digital infrastructure offerings beyond traditional tower services. By situating the data centre in Raleigh—a city recognised for its burgeoning tech industry and proximity to Research Triangle Park—the company is positioning itself to meet the growing demand for low-latency, high-throughput computing resources.
Edge data centres like RA1 are increasingly vital for supporting emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, hybrid cloud computing, and the Internet of Things. By bringing computing resources closer to end-users, these facilities can significantly enhance application performance and reliability. American Tower’s entry into the edge data centre market aligns with broader industry trends emphasising decentralised computing. The company’s existing portfolio of over 226,000 wireless and broadcast towers provides a robust foundation for further expansion in this domain.
