Global Switch Invests Hk$2.8b to Build Hong Kong Data Centre

14 November 2012 – SCMP

Global Switch, a company owned by venture capitalist and property developer Reuben Brothers, plans to invest about HK$2.8 billion to build what it claims would be Hong Kong’s largest data centre in Tseung Kwan O.

Construction of the new facility on a 21,500 square metre plot at Chun Yan Street will start next year and its initial phase will start operations in the first quarter of 2015. Once fully completed, it will have 35,000 sqmetres gross area of data centre space.

“This world-class facility in Hong Kong will serve as a vital resource for local, regional and global customers looking to expand their businesses,” John Corcoran, the executive chairman of Global Switch, said yesterday.

It is also the 10th location for London-based Global Switch, the leading owner and operator of wholesale, carrier-neutral data centres in Europe and Asia-Pacific. Established in 1998, the company runs more than 290,000 sqmetres of data-centre space.

A data centre is a secure, temperature-controlled facility equipped to house large-capacity server computers and data-storage systems, which are maintained with multiple power sources and have high-bandwidth links to the internet.

New large-scale data-centre projects in Tseung Kwan O that have started construction include a HK$3 billion complex by NTT Com Asia and a US$300 million facility by Google.

The financial services, trading and logistics, information technology, telecommunications, and content development and media industries account for more than 84 per cent of the demand for data-centre space in Hong Kong, according to research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Anthony Tan, the chief executive of Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks, said the entry of Global Switch in the local market would provide “key support for a lot of industries”.

Global Switch was recently awarded the plot on the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate, following a detailed submission process handled by Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks.

Corcoran said Global Switch, which recorded revenue of £312.7 million (HK$3.85 billion) for the fiscal year to March, would “contribute to the Hong Kong government’s vision of making the city a data-centre hub in the Asia-Pacific”.