Market Connectivity Rating, H1 2026

Which cities are essentially the most linked, and which of them are the quickest rising for web infrastructure?

Twice a 12 months, we make public our evaluation of the highest 10 most linked and fastest-growing cities with our Market Connectivity Rating—an interactive software in our Information Heart Analysis Service. The Market Connectivity Rating tracks 45 completely different knowledge factors for each metropolis, together with:

• Information middle energy,
• Variety of ASNs peering domestically,
• Cloud onramps, and extra.

And people knowledge factors create scores in every class for cities on a scale of 0-100. So with out additional ado, listed here are essentially the most linked and quickest rising cities for H1 2026.

Most linked cities: H1 2026

1. London | 60.7
2. Frankfurt | 60.1
3. Tokyo | 58.6
4. Singapore | 54.8
5. Amsterdam | 54.6
6. Washington, DC | 52.6
7. New York | 52.5
8. Hong Kong | 51.2
9. Paris | 50.7
10. Los Angeles, CA | 47.6

Most linked cities, 2026 vs. 2025

In contrast with the earlier 12 months’s checklist of most linked cities on this planet, 2026 was a remix. The highest 10 cities remained the identical, with a reshuffling of:

• London (2 to 1) and Frankfurt (1 to 2)

• Singapore (5 to 4) and Amsterdam (4 to five)

• Washington (8 to six), New York (6 to 7), and Hong Kong (7 to eight). 

Tokyo (3), Paris (9), and Los Angeles (10) held their ranks from 2025 to 2026.

Quickest rising cities: H1 2026

The fastest-growing cities rankings are based mostly on the longer term development rating—additionally measured on a scale of 1-100—of the highest 200 most linked metro areas.

1. Hong Kong | 34.3
2. Manila | 33.7
3. Columbus, Ohio | 28.1
4. Hangzhou | 27.7
5. Shenzhen | 27.6
6. Singapore | 27.1
7. Cairo | 25.0
8. Daegu | 23.4
9. Washington, DC | 23.2
10. Dallas, TX | 22.6

Quickest rising cities, 2026 vs. 2025

In contrast with the 2025 quickest rising cities rankings, the 2026 checklist has just a few surprises.

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio is making its debut on this checklist at quantity three, because of its excessive scores in knowledge classes for pricing, laws and governance, knowledge facilities, and native entry. (You possibly can learn extra about how we create these scores beneath.) A number of wholesale industrial knowledge middle operators are increasing throughout the metro together with vital hyperscale campus expansions. New growth is occurring throughout New Albany, Hilliard, Columbus, Lancaster, Hebron, Jersey Township, and different close by cities. A lot of this new growth is utilizing on-site fuel conversion and different “behind the meter” energy programs.

Dallas, TX 

One other newcomer on the quickest rising cities checklist is Dallas, TX, coming in at quantity 10. Dallas scores extremely in knowledge classes for pricing, laws and governance, knowledge facilities, native entry, and cloud infrastructure. The Dallas metro at the moment has greater than a dozen main industrial knowledge facilities within the close to pipeline.

Kuala Lumpur

One main upset is Kuala Lumpur falling from the highest 10 checklist. Previously scoring in first place because the quickest rising metropolis, Kuala Lumpur’s deliberate cloud areas caught our consideration final 12 months. However as we talk about beneath, Market Connectivity Scores are multifaceted and calculated in accordance with 9 classes of information, pulling knowledge from a number of TeleGeography merchandise. With all of these inputs, there’s room for surprises as market developments all over the world take form.

Kuala Lumpur has skilled quite a lot of growth in the previous couple of years. Now, Malaysia is dealing with constraints that different markets have already seen, curbing additional near-term growth. Malaysia has, the truth is, introduced that it’s not approving non-AI knowledge middle growth attributable to energy and water constraints, and this has contributed to Kuala Lumpur rating within the decrease fifth of our prime 200 fast-growth markets for deliberate energy growth.

The place you will get this knowledge

These rankings of the ten most linked and quickest rising cities are fueled by TeleGeography’s Information Heart Analysis Service—essentially the most complete supply of intelligence on knowledge middle infrastructure and ecosystems. With the Information Heart Analysis Service, you possibly can:

• Entry our Market Connectivity Rating, a robust software that measures present and potential knowledge middle measurement for 3,000 cities worldwide
• Discover an interactive map depicting almost 6,400 lively knowledge facilities
• Uncover the place to entry completely different networks, web exchanges, or cloud suppliers
• View knowledge middle web site profiles, together with operator contact particulars, megawatt capability, ground house, and very important particulars in regards to the web site ecosystem
• Get skilled evaluation of worldwide knowledge middle market developments compiled from over 1,000 web site surveys and supplemental analysis
• Entry present and historic colocation pricing knowledge for prime world markets.
  

How the Market Connectivity Rating works

Briefly: the MCS is a software to check and summarize market growth which may be particularly tailor-made to your priorities. It calculates a rating for every market by averaging its relative sub-scores. These are drawn from the information classes described beneath. At any time, you might hit the “change weights” button, which helps you to alter how vital every class is to calculating the ultimate rating.

In any case, there is not any single reply to which market is the “greatest.” Context is essential. Do not care about web exchanges? Change their weight to zero. Want entry to cloud infrastructure? Increase its weight to the utmost. The scores will alter accordingly, displaying an important markets in your scenario.

Information classes

The MCS analyzes 9 broad classes of information, seven of that are derived instantly from TeleGeography datasets. Curiously, these indicators pull not solely from the Information Heart Analysis Service, however different TeleGeography merchandise as effectively. Right here, we’ll present a quick abstract of every class, its supply, and the way it impacts Market Connectivity Scores:

Information facilities

This knowledge group tells us how a market fares in relation to provisioning knowledge middle infrastructure in assist of the native communications market. It’s all about knowledge middle capability in deployment and within the pipeline. Pulling from our intensive Information Heart Analysis Service, the general knowledge middle rating is derived from combination market capability in place, numbers of websites, and websites in deployment.

One of many sub-categories right here is “Information Facilities Deliberate.” The scoring right here particularly tracks new knowledge middle websites which can be actively in deployment. It does not embody expansions to present services or land financial institution purchases; simply the place new buildings are underneath building and attributable to launch inside the subsequent few years.

Web exchanges

Web Trade (IX) presence and exercise is a superb indicator of communications market well being, and one we analysis within the Information Heart Analysis Service. Scores for ASNs linked and the variety of IXs available in the market inform us what number of networks and platforms are current. These scores additionally tell us whether or not the native market is overly depending on an incumbent operator. Extra networks at extra peering areas signifies higher native competitiveness. One different measure on this class is the proportion of ASNs which can be worldwide. This supplies an early indication of whether or not worldwide carriers see the market as a precious place to deploy.

Pricing

Pulling from our Community Pricing Database this knowledge group offers a elementary indicator of the price of connecting in a market. Low scores point out larger prices, which enhance obstacles to market entry and exercise.

Cloud infrastructure

This rating class pulls from various knowledge units in our Cloud and WAN Infrastructure Service. It tells us the extent to which cloud functions may be delivered domestically. Prospects entry cloud companies by way of onramps, which then give them devoted entry to platforms saved both in large cloud zone knowledge middle constellations or in smaller native cloud zones with extra restricted choices. We observe all of those right here. We additionally embody CDNs on this checklist—the caches that permit content material to be delivered domestically.

Inside this broader knowledge group, we observe cloud areas deliberate. This indicator tracks introduced, however not but operational, cloud areas. Some have for much longer lag occasions to deployment than others.

Lengthy-distance transport

A number of TeleGeography metrics are tied into this broad class. Worldwide web capability and rely of instantly linked cities are pulled from our IP Networks analysis. These are nice indicators of how effectively a given market is built-in into world networks. In some circumstances, this measure enforces, together with knowledge middle growth, the rising or persevering with significance of a market. In different circumstances, it might remind us {that a} market nonetheless has significance as a community hub regardless of slower development in knowledge middle rollouts.

Subsequent, present and deliberate submarine cables are tracked in our Transport Networks analysis. The variety of lively and deliberate subsea cables additional implement a market’s place on wider intra-regional or intercontinental levels. After all, landlocked cities don’t have any use for subsea metrics, however the final parts on this class—numbers of long-haul and WAN carriers current from our Cloud and WAN Infrastructure Service—make up the distinction. Right here we are able to see how strong the competitors is for entry to the surface world—each for native carriers and for enterprises.

Native entry

This network-specific knowledge group reveals us how massive the mounted broadband market is and the way a lot of the cellular market has broadband-level entry. Even when the peering and transport infrastructure is missing in a given location, excessive broadband utilization is a transparent indicator of want for community assist infrastructure. This knowledge is drawn largely from TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database.

Energy

In at the moment’s connectivity markets, no commodity is extra valuable than energy. Lots of the world’s most crucial communication hubs are affected by a full-blown disaster in lack of electrical energy to assist knowledge middle, cloud, and community wants. This disaster comes at a time when governments all over the world are pushing to scale back dependence on fossil fuels and enhance utilization of unpolluted energy, which is much more scarce. This knowledge group within the MCS makes use of knowledge from the International Vitality Monitor to rank cities by their present and deliberate availability of unpolluted energy.

Geography & demographics

This class supplies bigger macro indicators for every metropolis that point out relative potential for communications market growth. Many of the particular person measures right here come instantly from TeleGeography, excluding International 5000 Database knowledge, which reveals us the variety of main firms with headquarters in a given metropolis. One of many metrics right here offers an intriguing view of how comparatively a given metropolis is pulled into the orbit of or unbiased from different hubs. The measure, “Remoteness from Different Hubs” tells us how the town’s Lengthy-Distance Transport rating compares to different cities in a 100-km radius.

Laws & governance

This closing class is derived from the World Financial institution’s Worldwide Governance Indicators. It supplies a way of how risky or reliable an area working atmosphere could also be by measuring rule of legislation, regulation, stability, and freedom of voice.