August 25, 2026 by Hayley Levine

Salt Lake City has earned the nickname "Silicon Slopes," not for the skiing, but for the tech scene climbing fast in the mountains around it. The city is ringed by the Wasatch Mountains, which came in handy when it hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics. It's set to host again in 2034. The Great Salt Lake the city is named for is the largest saltwater lake in the Western Hemisphere.

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Cogent has had a presence in Salt Lake City since 2007. Over the past 19 years, we've lit 21 facilities, including our own data center in 2024. Of those 21 facilities, 16 are enabled for Optical Wave Services.

Tech companies are still building their footprint here, but plenty of established names have been rooted in Salt Lake for years, including Zions Bancorporation, Extra Space Storage, and clothing brand Cotopaxi. Software companies like Qualtrics, Ancestry, and Pluralsight anchor the "Silicon Slopes" cluster that gave the region its name. Google Cloud launched a Salt Lake City region, a tier-1 signal that puts the market on the same map as the country's largest hubs. Data center operators DataBank, Flexential, Novva, and Aligned have grown their presence as demand climbs.

What's driving that demand is a mix of cheap power, cold desert air that cuts cooling costs, and a location that sits between the major markets of the Western US. Utah anchors roughly 48 operational data centers with about 920 MW of critical IT capacity, according to the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute, with a pipeline projected to add another 2,600 MW.

Cogent's presence in Salt Lake City is a crucial part of our network infrastructure. It lets us connect major California markets with other mountain cities like Denver, and reach into the Midwest through Lincoln, NE and Chicago. The market also gives Cogent an alternate wave route running from Seattle, WA to Chicago, IL.

Transit Map	Optical Wave Services Map

As Salt Lake City becomes a technology destination, let Cogent be the provider you turn to when you establish your presence.

About the Author:
Hayley Levine is a Communications Specialist that works with technically-versed and business-minded individuals who support our global customer base. She highlights how Cogent’s set of products and services can address customer challenges from her involvement in customer conversations