Wholesale data center provider Digital Realty Trust has partnered with Data Foundry, a Texas colocation company, to act as provider of network connectivity services at its Austin, Texas, data center.

While Data Foundry is a data center provider itself, its network provides access to more than 17 carriers. As a result of the deal, Digital's customers in Austin now also have access to them and Data Foundry's managed services, which include cloud, storage, monitoring and managed security.

Data Foundry said the Austin deal was only the beginning and would serve as a model for expansion of the partnership to other markets.

John Sarkis, VP of carrier and connectivity operations at San Francisco-based Digital, said, “We selected Data Foundry for its recognized expertise in networking and managed services. Our customers will benefit from having carrier-neutral choices in telecommunications providers along with access to a suite of managed services.”

Data Foundry is based in Austin and owns and operates three data centers in Texas. It also provides services in Europe and Asia.

It is currently building a 250,000 sq ft, 50MW data center in the Houston market.