Australia's Data Centre Market by the Numbers: 328 Facilities, 102 Operators

What we counted

The DChunt map (/map) tracks 328 data centre facility records from 102 operators across 33 locations in Australia. This article summarises that dataset: where the facilities are, who runs them, and what the pattern means for a business buying colocation for the first time.

A quick note on what a record is. Some entries are individual buildings, some are campuses that contain several buildings, and some are sites in development. The dataset also includes facilities that do not sell retail colocation, such as cloud providers' own data centres and buildings leased to a single tenant. So these numbers describe where Australia's data centre infrastructure is, not how many places will sell you a rack. The methodology section below explains more.

Facilities by state and territory

Grouping the 328 records by state and territory:

• New South Wales: 121 • Victoria: 71 • Western Australia: 34 • Queensland: 33 • South Australia: 23 • Australian Capital Territory: 21 • Northern Territory: 13 • Tasmania: 11 • Christmas Island: 1

New South Wales alone holds more than a third of all records, and New South Wales and Victoria together account for close to 60 per cent.

Facilities by city

At city level, the largest locations are Sydney (105), Melbourne (64), Perth (30), Brisbane (26), Adelaide (22), Canberra (21), Darwin (12), Newcastle (6), Hobart (5) and Launceston (5). The remaining records are spread across more than 20 regional locations, most with one or two facilities each, including Ballarat, the Gold Coast, the Sunshine Coast, Albury, Geelong, Townsville and Wollongong.

The coverage page (/coverage) gives a plain-English summary of what each major city offers buyers.

Operator league table

Ranked by number of facility records on the map, the operators with the most entries are:

1. CDC Data Centres: 32 2. NEXTDC: 27 3. Vocus Communications: 25 4. Equinix: 19 5. Amazon Web Services (AWS): 13 6. DigiCo Infrastructure REIT: 11 7. DCI Data Centers, ISPT, STACK Infrastructure and Telstra InfraCo: 8 each 8. AirTrunk, Digital Realty and Firmus: 7 each 9. Fujitsu: 6

After these, there is a long tail of operators with a handful of sites or a single facility, from regional specialists to small local providers.

Read this table with care. A higher count does not mean a bigger or better operator. One operator may list each building on a campus separately while another lists a whole campus once. Some names on the list, such as cloud providers and property developers, are not colocation retailers at all. And the count says nothing about available capacity, power density or service quality. The provider directory (/providers) covers operators you can buy from in more depth.

Concentration and what it means for buyers

Three patterns stand out.

The market is concentrated on the east coast. Sydney and Melbourne dominate, which is why they offer the most choice, the most carriers and the most competition. If you need flexibility, these are the easiest markets to buy in.

A handful of operators have national footprints. Several operators appear in many cities. That can make multi-city deployments simpler, with one contract and consistent processes, but it also means you should be deliberate about whether you want all your eggs in one operator's basket.

Smaller markets have thin choice. In cities such as Darwin and Hobart, and in most regional towns, you may have only one or two realistic options. That limits your bargaining power and your fallback options if a provider does not work out. It also makes connectivity and support arrangements more important to check.

For most first-time buyers, the practical takeaway is to start with location, narrow to operators that sell at your scale in that location, and then compare on power, resilience, connectivity and price.

Methodology and update cadence

The DChunt facility dataset is compiled from publicly available information about Australian data centres, including operator listings. Each record has a name, operator and city. Positions on the map are indicative at city level, not exact street addresses.

The counts in this article reflect the dataset at the time of writing. The data centre market changes quickly: new facilities open, campuses expand, operators are acquired or renamed and developments are announced or cancelled. We review and update the dataset over time, and the live map always shows the current figures. If you spot something out of date, we welcome corrections.

Because facility lists change, always confirm the specific site, its capabilities and its availability with the operator before making decisions.

Ready to narrow it down?

Numbers are a starting point, not a decision. DChunt is independent and does not resell space. Our free assessment (/assessment) ranks locations and operators against your own power, latency, compliance and budget needs, so you can go from 328 facilities to a shortlist that actually fits.