The first colocation quote most people see makes sense until they reach the line labeled "cross-connect, monthly recurring." The space, the power, and the bandwidth all seem reasonable. Then there's a charge, every month, forever, for what sounds like a single length of fiber running across the building.
It's one of the most common surprises for first-time colocation customers, and one of the most commonly asked-about line items. There's a real explanation behind it, even if the pricing can feel steep.
What a cross-connect is
A cross-connect is a physical cable that links your equipment to another party's equipment inside the same data center. That other party might be an IP transit provider, an internet exchange, a cloud on-ramp, a business partner, or another one of your own cabinets.
Most cross-connects today are single-mode fiber, which handles anything from 1G to 100G and beyond over long runs inside a building. Multimode fiber shows up for short runs, and copper Ethernet is still used for some 1G connections, though it's increasingly rare between separate customers.
The cable doesn't usually run directly from your rack to the other party's rack. In most carrier-neutral facilities, it goes from a patch panel in your cabinet to a central interconnection area, often called the meet-me room, and from there to the other party's patch panel. The facility installs and manages that path.
Why you need cross-connects at all
Space and power get your servers into the building. Cross-connects are how they talk to the outside world.
If you buy transit from a carrier in the same facility, you need a cross-connect to their equipment. If you join an internet exchange to peer with other networks, you need a cross-connect to the exchange's switch. If you're connecting to a cloud provider's private on-ramp, a payment network, or a partner's infrastructure, each of those is another cross-connect.
That's also why carrier-neutral facilities are attractive. The more networks present in one building, the more options you have, and the more competitive your transit and connectivity pricing can be. PeeringDB lists which networks are present in which facilities, which is a useful check before choosing one.
How ordering a cross-connect works
The process usually starts with the other party. If you're connecting to a carrier, they'll issue a Letter of Authorization and Connecting Facility Assignment, known as an LOA-CFA. It authorizes you to connect to their equipment and specifies exactly where, down to the cabinet, patch panel, and port.
You then submit a cross-connect order to the data center operator, attaching the LOA-CFA and giving your own cabinet and panel details. The facility's technicians run and patch the cable, test it, and confirm when it's live.
Lead times vary. In a well-run facility, a standard in-building cross-connect can be done in a few business days. Connections between buildings on the same campus, or to a busy meet-me room, can take longer. It's worth asking about typical lead times before you commit to a go-live date.
Why cross-connects cost money every month
Here's the part that surprises people. You're not only paying for the cable; you're paying for an ongoing service and for access to the facility's interconnection ecosystem.
The facility maintains the physical pathways, cable trays, meet-me rooms, and patch panels that cross-connects run through. It keeps records of every connection, so a technician can find your fiber among tens of thousands of others. It handles troubleshooting when a link goes down and removes cables when they're decommissioned. All of that is ongoing labor and space.
There's also a business model at work. Interconnection is one of the most valuable things a carrier-neutral data center offers, and operators price it accordingly. In facilities with dense ecosystems of carriers, clouds, and exchanges, cross-connect prices tend to be higher, because the value of being able to reach all those networks with a single cable is higher.
Pricing varies a lot by operator and region. Expect a one-time setup fee plus a monthly charge per cross-connect, anywhere from tens to several hundred dollars or euros a month. Large carrier hotels, particularly in the US, tend to sit at the higher end, while many European facilities charge less.
Who pays for the cross-connect
Typically, the party that orders the cross-connect pays for it, and that's usually the customer connecting to a carrier or exchange. Some carriers will cover or share cross-connect costs as part of a transit contract, especially for larger commitments, so it's worth asking.
When you connect two of your own cabinets, or connect to a partner, you'll need to agree who orders and pays. Get that settled before submitting the order, since cross-connects tend to stay in place long after anyone remembers who set them up.
How cross-connects affect your colocation budget
Cross-connects add up faster than people expect. A small deployment might need two transit connections for redundancy, an internet exchange port, and a link to a second cabinet. That's four cross-connects, each potentially carrying a monthly charge. Confirm that redundant links use physically diverse paths; two cables in the same tray don't protect against a common cable cut.
That's why it's worth listing every connection you'll need when you plan your deployment, alongside space and power. Our colocation cabinet sizing guide covers the space and power side; cross-connects belong on the same planning sheet.
Ways to keep cross-connect costs under control
Consolidate onto fewer, faster links. One 10G or 100G connection to a transit provider costs one cross-connect, while several 1G links cost several. Higher-capacity ports are usually more cost-effective per gigabit as well.
Use an internet exchange. A single cross-connect to an exchange's switch lets you peer with many networks at once, instead of ordering a separate cable to each.
Consider transit from your colocation provider. If the company providing your cabinet also offers IP transit, connecting to it may be simpler and cheaper than ordering a cross-connect to a third-party carrier, and some providers include the in-facility connection in the price.
Clean up regularly. Cross-connects for old carriers, retired servers, or ended contracts often keep billing long after they're unused. Audit your cross-connect inventory once or twice a year and decommission what you don't need.
Planning cross-connects for redundancy
For anything important, one cross-connect isn't enough. A single fiber can be damaged, a patch panel can fail, and a meet-me room can have problems of its own.
The usual approach is two transit providers, each with its own cross-connect, ideally running through different pathways or meet-me rooms. Many facilities offer diverse routing for cross-connects on request. For internet exchanges, a second port on a different switch, or membership in a second exchange, adds similar resilience.
Redundancy doubles cross-connect costs for those links, so it's a trade-off. Decide which connections are critical and which can tolerate a short outage, and plan accordingly.
Questions to ask before you sign
Ask what the setup fee and monthly charge are for each type of cross-connect: single-mode fiber, multimode, copper, and connections between buildings on the same campus.
Ask about lead times, testing, and what's included. Some facilities include a certain number of cross-connects with a cabinet; others charge for every one.
Ask about decommissioning and changes. Is there a fee to remove or move a cross-connect? How much notice is needed?
And ask which networks are already in the building. A facility with your preferred transit providers, the exchange you want to join, and the clouds you use will save you cross-connects to other buildings, which are often slower and more expensive.
Wrapping up
A cross-connect is a physical cable between your equipment and another party's inside a data center, usually running through a meet-me room the facility manages. It costs money every month because you're paying for ongoing maintenance, documentation, and support, and for access to the networks in that building.
Plan cross-connects alongside space and power, consolidate where you can, build in redundancy for critical links, and audit regularly so you're not paying for cables nobody uses.
Thanks for reading! If you're planning a colocation deployment, xTom offers colocation and IP transit alongside enterprise-grade dedicated servers, NVMe-powered KVM VPS through V.PS, shared hosting, and general IT services.
Ready to discuss your infrastructure needs? Contact our team to explore the right solution for your projects.
Frequently asked questions about cross-connects
What is a cross-connect in a data center?
A cross-connect is a physical cable, usually fiber, that links your equipment to another party's equipment in the same data center, such as a transit provider, internet exchange, or cloud on-ramp.
Why do cross-connects have a monthly fee?
The facility maintains the cabling pathways, meet-me rooms, patch panels, and records, and provides support and troubleshooting. The monthly fee also reflects the value of access to the networks in the building.
What is an LOA-CFA?
A Letter of Authorization and Connecting Facility Assignment is a document from the party you're connecting to. It authorizes the connection and specifies exactly which cabinet, panel, and port to connect to.
How long does it take to set up a cross-connect?
A standard in-building cross-connect often takes a few business days. Connections between buildings on a campus or in busy facilities can take longer.
How much does a cross-connect cost?
Pricing varies widely by operator and region, from tens to several hundred dollars or euros per month, plus a one-time setup fee. Dense US carrier hotels tend to be at the higher end.
How can I reduce cross-connect costs?
Consolidate onto fewer high-capacity links, use an internet exchange to reach many networks over one connection, consider transit from your colocation provider, and remove cross-connects you no longer use.