Telehouse, a leading provider of dedicated data centers, international Internet exchanges and managed IT services, announced the opening of its new data center in Istanbul, Turkey in partnership with local telecommunications/system integrator company Teknotel Telekomünikasyon.

“Opening a Telehouse facility in Istanbul is a superb opportunity for us to extend our range of products and services in the Turkish market,” Alper Selcuk, general manager of Teknotel Telekomünikasyon, said in a statement. “Already we are finding that demand for carrier neutral data center space is building quickly. Senior ICT executives who are making decisions regarding the deployment of their critical infrastructure realize that they now have a wider choice of communication solutions in Istanbul and that they can now house them more strategically and cost-effectively.”

This announcement follows the January opening of Telehouse’s carrier neutral facility, expanding the company's presence in the New York market as a subsidiary of the Japan based KDDI (News - Alert) (News - Alert) Corporation, bringing the company's total global data center footprint to over 41 sites in 22 cities across 11 countries. On Feb. 3, Telehouse America opened its latest New York-based colocation facility, located right in the heart of the Chelsea meat packing district of lower Manhattan.

Friends, customers and prospective clients filed into Telehouse’s third colocation facility in Chelsea, N.Y., on Feb. 3, commemorating the opening of Telehouse’s newest data center.

On the other side of the world, Telehouse opened its Istanbul location, marking the company's first data center operation in this region. Located in Kozyatagi, on the Asian side of Istanbul, the center will function under the Telehouse brand and will be operated, supported and maintained by Teknotel adhering to Telehouse's global operational standards.

This move comes at a strategic time, as Turkey is opening up rapidly and connectivity, security and continuity are vital to companies located in the city.

“Turkey is an extremely important market for us, bridging both Europe and Asia,” said Business Development Director at Telehouse Andrew Fray. “In working with Teknotel we have found a partner with the expertise, focus and willingness to carry the Telehouse brand. It is important for companies to locate their critical infrastructure in data centers where risk is carefully managed especially in Istanbul which faces some significant physical risk factors, such as flooding and earthquakes.”

As part of its expansion, a second Istanbul data center is being planned in 2012 in partnership with Teknotel. Last year, Telehouse expanded its data center presence in China with the debut of Telehouse Shanghai and in December 2009 it gained a foothold into Cape Town, South Africa. Telehouse also opened a site in Vietnam and expanded its footprint in London last year.

Teknotel works in realizing and implementing turnkey projects in the telecom sector and offers solutions for different scale of infrastructure and access requirements with its operations in satellite & Internet, network & broadband and end-user electronics as a system integrator.