Despite an exceptionally tech-savvy local audience and high income per person, until recently Tel Aviv had found itself overlooked as a data center location, as regional political concerns led key deployments elsewhere in the Mediterranean region. As Israel draws closer to its neighbors (witness the recent free trade agreement with the United Arab Emirates and a possible similar deal 
with Saudi Arabia), politics has shifted to more business- and thus people-friendly avenues toward increased technical investment.
Tel Aviv has long been home to an entrepreneurial start-up culture, with thousands of software, biotech, cybersecurity and other specialized firms leading to an ecosystem currently valued at nearly $400 billion.[1] Each of these firms requires considerable compute needs, often launching with basic requirements on a major cloud platform and scaling for research and development and client usage needs thereafter, in both multi-cloud and colocation environments.
While many of these new firms work solely with the private sector, the federal government has tendered a variety of large contracts of late, leading both local start-ups and global cloud platforms to compete for business. The Nimbus project that was released for review in 2021 allowed open bidding to provide a host of ministries with a lead service at a deal value of $1.2 billion. Split between two of the largest global services, this and other defense-related deals led to several US-based firms to enter the market, creating the first formal cloud regions in-country. Continued cooperation between the start-up economy and the defense sector will provide further data center clientele in future, particularly for those that can then re-sell products internationally.
Cloud and Sea
As befitting many growing coastal locations, Tel Aviv will gain a new undersea cable in 2024, with the Blue system to link the city to Jordan, Cyprus, Greece, Italy, and France, with landings at the increasingly important cable hubs of Genoa and Marseille. This will provide the first direct link from Israel to France and allow for quicker transit to western Europe and beyond. For local needs, the Communications Ministry has worked with private industry to increase fiber to the home penetration to 70% nationally, accelerating local internet usage and speeds accordingly.
Unlike other tightly clustered data center markets, Tel Aviv enjoys a diverse spread of locations across the greater metropolitan area, benefiting those looking for two- or three-location deployments for redundancy or for a comprehensive disaster recovery plan. Petah Tikva and Herzliya are two locations with options for deployments, and EdgeConneX currently has convenient sites in Rishon LeZion and Neve Yamin for growing workloads.
With a tight four percent vacancy, plenty of local clients and talent, and a pro-infrastructure administration, locating in Tel Aviv offers an array of positives for new deployments. Join in on one of the global start-up capitals!
EdgeConneX offers locations across the Tel Aviv metropolitan area, including in Herzliya, Petah Tikva, and Rishon for small- to large-scale needs.
- Tier III design
- 13 kilometers from downtown Tel Aviv (Petah Tikva)
- Rishon Availability up to 7.5MW
- Neve Yamin Availability up to 48MW
- Engineered for customers requiring the lowest possible latency
Find out more about the EdgeConneX Tel Aviv data center options: https://edge.1.aordev.com/locations/emea/tel-aviv/
To learn more, download the EdgeConneX Tel Aviv data sheet: HERE
Read about our recent expansion: HERE
Schedule a virtual tour: https://edge.1.aordev.com/virtual-tours/
To tour our sites in Tel Aviv, please contact: capacity@edgeconnex.com
[1] Dealroom.co: Tel Aviv- A Global Startup Trailblazer (March 2023)