Carrier Connect Data Solutions signs Atlanta deal for C$88.9M in potential billings

A five-year customer commitment is set to fill a newly leased Atlanta-area data centre, with C$88.9 million in potential billings based on an initial partial deployment. Carrier Connect Data Solutions Inc. CVECCDS OTCMKTSCCDSF, a Vancouver colocation operator, said on Monday that its U.S. subsidiary signed a customer agreement covering all 4 megawatts at Alpharetta, Georgia.

Carrier says the customer has placed a multimonth deposit with its wholly owned subsidiary, PureColo USA Inc. The initial 3 MW deployment is scheduled for Nov. 1, 2026, when full monthly billings are due to begin.

For that Nov. 1 start, Carrier forecasts monthly billings of about US$1.05 million. That comprises US$750,000 in service revenue and approximately US$300,000 in power charges. The C$88.9 million five-year headline includes electricity charges at the initial deployment rate.

Carrier shares CVECCDS closed at C$1.45 on the TSX Venture Exchange on Oct. 16, up 8.21 per cent, in Google Finance's 4 p.m. EDT snapshot. That close precedes Monday's customer announcement and provides a market baseline rather than a reaction to the agreement.

Power Charges Enter the Billing Total

The Oct. 19 announcement puts the initial annualized billing run rate at approximately C$17.8 million. Carrier expects the remaining 1 MW to deploy within three to six months. Full deployment would lift monthly billings to about US$1.4 million, or more than C$23.7 million annually.

The release describes the five-year total as potential billings and does not reproduce minimum-payment, termination or service-level provisions. It withholds the customer's identity for commercial confidentiality and gives no deposit amount.

The split between service fees and electricity charges also limits what the headline establishes about earnings. Carrier identifies US$750,000 of monthly service revenue for the Nov. 1 deployment, but supplies no corresponding operating-cost schedule.

The Facility Lease Runs for 15.5 Years

Carrier's Oct. 15 facility announcement describes a lease with an initial term of 186 months, or 15.5 years, starting that day. It includes two further five-year renewal options. Carrier said no business or assets were purchased in the transaction.

The initial property term extends well beyond the five-year customer agreement. Neither the Oct. 15 nor Oct. 19 release states the rent, a customer-installation budget or which party pays for any equipment upgrades. The facility announcement calls the site fully built out and ready for customer move-in, avoiding a ground-up construction project.

The lease increased power capacity under management to 11.7 MW from 7.7 MW, according to the Oct. 15 announcement. Carrier reports an existing 4 MW supply at Alpharetta and a historical allocation of 10 MW. Restoring that larger allocation depends on utility requirements and customer demand.

Carrier's May 26 financial-results release reported C$910,000 in revenue for the quarter ended March 31. Cash stood at C$9.9 million on March 31, before the Atlanta lease. The Oct. 19 announcement gives no updated cash balance against which to assess deployment funding.

Another 21 MW Remains Under a Letter of Intent

The customer relationship began with a non-binding letter of intent announced July 13, covering up to 25 MW of AI computing demand within 12 months. Location-specific pricing still required negotiation. Carrier warned then that purchase orders might never be agreed or executed.

"Importantly, this is just the first 4MW of our previously announced 25MW customer letter of intent, leaving another 21MW of potential customer demand to contract," Carrier chief executive Mark Binns said in Monday's release.

The remaining demand still requires definitive agreements, according to the Oct. 19 announcement. The signed Alpharetta contract does not turn that additional capacity into contracted revenue, and the July proposal's indicative pricing cannot establish fees for future sites.

The distinction between contracted capacity and billing dates also appeared in Mugglehead's coverage of Sydney's SYD1 agreement. DigiCo Infrastructure REIT ASXDGT, an Australian data centre owner and developer, announced on Oct. 15 a 15-year agreement for 71 MW, subject to customary conditions and approvals.

DigiCo expects the first 10 MW of its SYD1 expansion to become income-producing in late fiscal 2027. Its release identifies existing liquidity, available debt facilities and U.S. asset-sale proceeds as funding sources for the expansion.

Read more: DigiCo Infrastructure REIT signs 15-year contract for 71 MW in Sydney

Carrier's first operating milestone arrives on Nov. 1, when the initial 3 MW deployment and full monthly billings are scheduled to begin. That start precedes the additional megawatt expected within three to six months.