Data Center Investment News — 27/01/2023
A 14-floor data centre is coming to Osaka
Privately-held digital infrastructure and telecommunication operator OPTAGE Co., Ltd., has announced the construction of a new data centre in Japan.
The 14-floor ‘OPTAGE Sonezaki Data Center’ facility will be the company’s second data centre in the country, adding to its existing presence in Tokyo.
The new 24,109 square feet site will be located in the Osaka Prefecture and has been designed to handle cloud-based services. Construction is expected to start in the fourth quarter of this year with services to be switched on in 2026.
OPTAGE, formerly known as K-Opticom Corporation, was founded in April 1988 and it currently counts with a workforce of nearly 3,000. The company is wholly owned by Kansai Electric Company and in March 2022 it posted yearly revenues of 248.4 billion yen (~US$1.9 billion).
NTT set to invest $3.5bn in India’s data centres
Japanese telecommunications giant Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (NTT) is set to invest a massive US$3.5 billion in India’s data centres.
This move is part of NTT’s global strategy to expand its cloud services business and strengthen its presence in the country.
The capital commitment has been designed to increase the operator’s portfolio capacity to 300MW across the nation.
NTT’s data centre business, NTT Communications, has had a presence in India since 2009 and is currently operating data centres in the cities of Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, and New Delhi.
Exclusive: HostDime mulling 9-figure capital raise to fuel edge data centre expansion
Privately-held and self-bootstrap Florida-based data centre operator and developer, HostDime, is currently holding conversations with various capital groups to discuss a cash injection for its near-term growth and expansion plans.
The Orlando company could raise over US$100 million in a shake-up to its financing strategy which has to date been purely greenfield-led, people familiar with the matter told The Tech Capital.
As part of the consideration, the business, founded by chief executive Manny Vivar in 2003, has engaged investment bank Fifth Third Securities to serve as its sole financial adviser to manage the process and transaction, the people said.
HostDime’s current data centre portfolio includes facilities in Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and the USA. The company also operates network POPs in the UK, India, and Hong Kong.
Switzerland’s Green expands data centre footprint
Swiss-based InfraVia Capital Partners-backed data centre operator Green.ch AG has announced the launch of a new facility.
The centre is expected to add to the existing portfolio of cloud and hosting services the company already offers.
Located near Zurich, the facility will provide services including high-performance computing, cloud storage, and data management solutions.
Green is building its major Zurich Metro Campus project on an area of more than 46,000 m2/495,200 sqft in Dielsdorf, near the Swiss metropole.
Web Werks To Set Up 10 MW Capacity Data Center In Mumbai
Web Werks national Data Center provider has announced of latest Mumbai-2 Data Center launch in Navi Mumbai on Tuesday, 31st Jan 2023.
Spread over 120,000 sq. ft., our MUMBAI-2 DC is an advanced 10 MW, Tier III DC built in conjunction with our JV partner Iron Mountain Data Centers (IMDC) – the global Colocation leader.
Complementing our existing MUMBAI-1 DC, our MUMBAI-2 DC will offer Enterprise customers the densest Interconnection ecosystem in APAC with 200+ ISPs, all major Carriers, Internet Exchanges, Cloud Service Providers, and Content Delivery Networks, said in a Linkedln post.
Web Werks has a joint venture with Iron Mountain which will see the US data center firm invest $150 million over the next two years. Web Werks aims to expand its operations in its three existing markets and subsequently expand into Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chennai.
Maharashtra government signs $3.9bn MoUs for two new data centers in Pune
A regional government in India is getting external investment for two new data centers.
The Maharashtra government announced at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland this week that it had signed memoranda of understanding (MOU) with two companies worth ~$3.9 billion or Rs 32,414 crore to build two data centers in the city of Pune, in western India.
One of these deals was with RCube/Ark Data Centres. RCube is seemingly a French hedge fund manager, while Ark is a UK data center operator.
Ark is proposing to invest Rs 12,000 crore ($1.47bn) for a data center in the Pimpri-Chinchwad district of the city. No details about the data center have been revealed yet, though the Maharashtra government is anticipating that the facility will generate around 1,200 jobs in the region.
Africa Data Centres breaks ground on new data center in Cape Town, South Africa
Africa Data Centres has started construction on a new data center in Cape Town, South Africa.
The Cassava Technologies subsidiary this week broke ground on a second data center in Cape Town. The new facility will be in the north of the city and will have an IT load of 20MW. The facility will be up and running by mid-2024.
First announced in June 2022, the new 20MW facility will cover 12,000 square meters (129,150 sq ft). Work was originally set to start on site in the last quarter of 2022, with completion scheduled for the end of 2023.
ADC currently operates one facility in the Diep River area of Cape Town. The facility offers 2,700 sqm of IT space across three data halls. At full future build out, the site will offer 6,000 sqm and 25MW.
AWS launches new Australian cloud region in Melbourne
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a new cloud region in Melbourne, Australia.
“Today I’m pleased to share the general availability of the AWS Asia Pacific (Melbourne) Region with three Availability Zones and API name ap-southeast-4,” Donnie Prakoso, principal developer advocate at AWS, said this week.
First announced in December 2020, this is the second cloud region AWS has in the country, following the opening of Sydney in 2012.
“We are excited about the launch of a second AWS Region in Australia, as it gives us access to advanced technologies, like machine learning and artificial intelligence, at a lower latency to help make commuting a simpler and more enjoyable experience,” said Amin Shayan, CEO at Melbourne-based financial technology company Littlepay.
Aire Networks’ Ar Telecom acquires land in Lisbon for data center
Portuguese telco Ar Telecom has acquired land in Lisbon, Portugal, for a new data center.
As announced by the company on LinkedIn and in ECO this week, the Aire Networks-owned company has acquired land in the Alfragide area of the city. The project is now in the design and licensing phase.
“We’ve already chosen the location for our new data center,” the company posted on social media. “It’s in Alfragide, it’s going to be 1,400 sqm (15,000 sq ft) and we’re counting on it by the end of the year.”
Aire first announced plans for a Lisbon facility in late 2021. Initially set to hold 150 racks, the facility is reportedly expandable to 4,200 sqm (45,200 sq ft). At the time of the initial announcement, the company said it was set to invest around €10 million ($11.3m) in the project.
ECL announces 3D-printed, hydrogen-powered off-grid data centers
Data center-as-a-service startup EdgeCloudLink (ECL) plans to offer hydrogen-powered off-grid modular data centers, built in 1MW units, using 3D printing construction.
The new venture is building its first data center at its headquarters in Mountain View, California, using a construction 3D printer and a local building services company.
It will be powered by hydrogen delivered from a local source, use a proprietary liquid cooling design, and need no diesel generators, ECL promises.
The pilot should be available in Q2 2023, and the design will undercut both cloud and colocation services, according to ECL founder and CEO Yuval Bachar, who has previously held senior data center positions at LinkedIn, Facebook, Cisco, and Microsoft, among others.
New BW Digital CEO appointed to drive digital infrastructure investments
BW Group’s affiliate BW Digital has appointed Ludovic Hutier as their new CEO. Hutier has held prestigious positions in the digital marketing world prior to his appointment.
The privately-held subsea cable and data centre operator has brough Hutier in for the top job nearly a year after it acquired 100 percent of the shares of Hawaiki Submarine Cable Limited Partnership and International Connectivity Services Limited.
Working closely with the agency’s board of directors, Hutier, who has served as Chief Operating Officer of BW Digital, and previously Hawaiki, since 2016, has already outlined a vision for the company’s future, and has committed to driving innovation and growth.
He has also expressed his commitment to developing the company’s team, products, and processes.