Leading Edge Data Centres names new chief commercial officer

Australian regional data centre operator Leading Edge Data Centres has appointed Seán O’Halloran as chief commercial officer as the company continues to roll out its network across the country.

O’Halloran will be responsible for driving strategic growth across all market segments, the company said in a statement.

His previous roles included running Oceania for Alcatel-Lucent and CEO of Axicom. He also served on the Board of AMTA for more than five years.

The company’s network of Tier III data centres is interconnected via a network across regional Australia.

Newcastle, Tamworth and Dubbo are currently operational with another 23 sites planned over the next 18 months.

“I’m looking forward to helping drive the strategy in what must be one of the most exciting segments of the industry,” O’Halloran told CRN.

“There is a danger of a new “digital divide” being created in Regional Australia as we see more and more applications and use cases that have low-latency requirements.

“Our neutral host, fully redundant, tier 3 DCs are a critical piece of digital infrastructure that unlocks economic and social benefits for Regional Australian communities.

“I’ll be focusing on engaging across government and industry bodies as well as our partner ecosystem to ensure that we have the best possible solutions to enable our clients to ensure these benefits are realised."

He added that the company had an “aggressive deployment schedule” with Albury-Wodonga, Wagga, Coffs Harbour and Bathurst all due to be ready for service by mid-year.

“The second half of this calendar year will see sites ready for service in Victoria, including Shepparton, Ballarat and Bendigo, with many more in 2023.

“Queensland won’t be too far behind with planning well underway.”

Leading Edge’s data centres were designed in partnership with Schneider Electric.

“We have a very strong partnership model for the physical deployment of the data centres and our fully redundant interconnect data network. But for me, the most exciting element is what we call our “Galaxy Eco-system” where we bring together all our partners to enable clients to build a comprehensive edge solution.”