SOUTH AFRICA – Cloud-neutral colocation data centre solutions provider Teraco Data Environments has announced an investment of US$ 250million to construct a new hyperscale data centre, with 38-megawatts (MW) of critical power load in Johannesburg.
Jan Hnizdo, CEO of Teraco, revealed the investment plan in an interview with ITWeb.
“By the time we finish, we would have invested US$250million over the two phases of construction,” Hnizdo said.
In a press statement, the company said the facility, known as JB4, is scheduled for completion in quarter 1of 2022 and as a standalone building, will be the largest data centre in Africa.
Teraco’s announcement comes as several local and international companies are launching data centres in South Africa.
Few weeks ago, German start-up CloudRadar launched data centre facilities in Johannesburg.
In September, Dimension Data talked of its plan to imminently launch data centres in South Africa.
Last year also saw US-based software giant Microsoft open two data centre regions in South Africa, becoming the first global provider to deliver cloud services from data centres on the African continent.
In April this year, Amazon Web Services (AWS) announced the opening of the AWS Africa (Cape Town) region.
Similarly, in March last year, Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei started offering its cloud services in South Africa.
Huawei is leasing a data centre in Johannesburg from a partner, from where it is deploying localised public cloud services based on local industry policies, customer requirements and partner conditions.
US-based enterprise software company Oracle in September last year also announced plans to launch data centres in the country this year.
However, Hnizdo, in the interview, said Teraco does not compete with the likes of AWS and Microsoft, but is complementary to their services.
“They all have cloud on-ramps in Teraco – in the case of Microsoft, they have Microsoft ExpessRoute, and AWS has Direct Connect”.
“We have competitors like Vodacom, Internet Solutions (now Dimension Data) and Telkom. They provide data centre services and other services. A lot of them are carriers and outsourcers, but we provide data centre services only, so a customer that comes to Teraco has access to an open access platform. If you are deployed in Teraco, you can access whichever carrier you want because we do not sell carrier services, the CEO said.
“However, if you were in, for example, a Telkom facility, you will not be able to get Vodacom’s connectivity because they will now be selling their competitor’s services. However, with Teraco, you will be able to buy whoever’s services,” he added.
Hnizdo believes Teraco is poised for significant growth as hyperscale requirements continue to expand because of increased demand for cloud services in Africa.
“South Africa is strategically located at the tip of the African continent and as a result, is positioned as a technology and data centre hub for Sub-Saharan Africa. This is further underpinned by growing undersea and terrestrial fibre connectivity to the rest of Africa”
Jan Hnizdo- CEO, Teraco.
“The continued increase of cloud adoption in Africa is also being enabled by investments in critical infrastructure, including hyperscale data centre facilities such as JB4. This will enable global cloud clients to service not only the South African market but reach the rest of the Sub-Saharan African region as well,” he emphasized.
Hnizdo reaffirms that Teraco is committed to growing its capacity footprint across its core hubs, thereby ensuring clients have the certainty and flexibility of expansion to take part in the digital transformation that is taking place across Sub-Saharan Africa.
“Teraco continues to invest significantly in the region’s ICT infrastructure and has built what is now Africa’s largest data centre platform. We take pride in our vendor-neutral offering, enabling open access to interconnection and world-class resilient data centre infrastructure for all our clients.”
The JB4 facility is Teraco’s seventh data centre development and is in the heart of the Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis.
The company notes it is here that Teraco’s data centres already provide access to a wide choice of network service providers, peering at NAPAfrica, regional IXPs, content delivery networks and cloud provider on-ramps.
Hnizdo says this expansion is aimed at further supporting Sub-Saharan enterprises with advancing their digital transformation strategies, as well as enabling global cloud providers to expand their footprints − spurring innovation.
JB4 is the latest expansion to Teraco’s growing data centre platform and takes critical power load capacity at Teraco facilities to over 110MW, which includes the Isando Campus JB1/JB3 (39MW), Bredell JB2 (13MW), Rondebosch Cape Town CT1 (3MW), Brackenfell Cape Town CT2 (18MW) and Durban (1MW).
Teraco said organisations working to accelerate their digital transformation utilise Teraco to scale their IT infrastructure, adopt hybrid multi-cloud architectures and interconnect with strategic business partners within the Platform Teraco ecosystem of over 600 global and local clients.
Liked this article? Subscribe to DealStreet Africa News, our regular email newsletter with the latest news, deals and insights from Africa’s business, economy and more. SUBSCRIBE
