NTT bullish on expanding global data center footprint

by Ralph Hernandez / September 15, 2021

NTT, which runs data centers in over 20 countries in four continents, aims to expand its global operations by 20% in the next year and a half to “build a connected future.” This translates to a total of over 600,000 square meters of additional floor space in various countries, 30 connection points of Global Data Center Interconnect service and 300 Megawatts (MW) more IT load, according to its president Masaaki Moribayashi.

In the past couple of years, NTT through its Global Data Centers division opened three new data center campuses in Oregon, California, and Illinois as well as expanded the facility in Virginia. By early 2022, another data center campus will open in Arizona and will be the 7th such facility in the United States. It will add 36MW of IT load capacity before expanding to a total of 240MW.

NTT also opened new data center buildings in Amsterdam, Germany, and in the United Kingdom in 2020. Its flagship London 1 Data Center opened in December and once fully operational will increase NTT’s capacity in the country by over 200%. The company said it will support the UK’s financial services, media, and gaming industries. In the next two years, NTT will also increase its available IT load by 115MW in Europe, the Middle East and Africa with 13 new data center buildings in six countries including Spain and South Africa.

In Japan, a new data center with 21MW of IT load capacity has been built in Tokyo. By the end of the year, 15MW will be added to the IT load in Indonesia. Another data center in Malaysia also added 6.8MW to the load, with another 6.8MW in the pipeline. NTT adds that it’s considering further expansion in Thailand, Japan and Southern Vietnam in response to strong demand from clients.

In the next 18 months, four new hyperscale data center parks will be operational in India. These will add about 133MW of IT load and 50,000 square meters of floor space. This year, NTT eyes rolling out interconnections for 10 data centers across the country, as well as submarine cable landing stations in Mumbai and China.

“With the completion of new data centers, expanded campuses and high capacity networks such as the MIST submarine cable, we are building a connected future that will benefit NTT’s clients around the world,” said Masaaki. MIST is a large-capacity submarine cable connecting Singapore, Malaysia, and India. The cable system will span 11,000 km and construction is expected to be done by mid-2023.

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