SINGAPORE – Data Center First, a Singapore-based company, announced on Monday (Oct 18) that it would launch its maiden data centre in the Indonesian island of Batam in order to strengthen connectivity and digital links between Singapore and the area.
The data centre operator announced the 30MW data centre would be housed in Nongsa Digital Park in Batam.
This will make Data Center First the first international data centre operator to establish a presence on the island.
Nongsa One – as the new data centre is called – is expected to be completed by the end of 2023. It will be designed and constructed to Uptime Tier III standards, which refer to the data centre’s capability to maintain power and cool the facility.
A tier III data centre requires no shutdowns when equipment needs maintenance or replacement.
The company said in a press release: “The growing demand of Indonesian Internet users driven by a more open and competitive telecommunications industry in Indonesia continues to attract foreign investment into Indonesia.
“The US$40 million (S$54 million) Phase 1 investment in Nongsa One DC campus from Data Center First will help to strengthen the connectivity and ‘digital bridge’ between Nongsa and Singapore.”
Minister for Trade and Industry Gan Kim Yong said: “Nongsa One will bolster Nongsa’s status as a growing hub for tech and information technology services, as well as data centres.
“Data Center First’s investment highlights the potential of a near-shoring model for Singapore-based data centre operators to expand their capacity and capture the rapidly growing demand for data centre services in South-east Asia.”
He added that Singapore looks forward to continuing its close cooperation with Indonesia to support the development of the data centre industry in Nongsa.
Indonesia’s Coordinating Minister for Economic Affairs Airlangga Hartarto said he also welcomed the new data centre.
“It is estimated that this single project can catalyse into Nongsa Digital Park up to a total of US$300 million of foreign direct investment. It can stimulate the local economy by producing a large multiplier effect, accelerating digital transformation in Indonesia.”
The new data centre sits on 276,600 sq ft of land located in the special economic zone of Nongsa Digital Park.
The park’s chief executive Mike Wiluan said: “As the first data centre development in the Nongsa special economic zone, this cutting-edge infrastructure demonstrates the digital park’s commitment in attracting both best-in-class talent and key global infrastructure partners while affirming our role as a ‘digital bridge’ to Indonesia’s digitisation road map.”
Mr Marco Bardelli, the park’s senior executive director, who is also project leader of the data centre hub there, said: “I can see that most data centre operators we are currently negotiating with are seeing the park as the first stepping stone into the Indonesian market.
“We believe that our initiative will further encourage mote infrastructure investment that will support the exponentially growing local digital economy.”
Data Center First chief executive Wong Ka Vin added that the firm continues to receive interest from telecommunications, cloud infrastructure and e-commerce service providers.
“We are delighted to be the new crossroads for this bold vision of a digital future for Singapore and Indonesia,” he said.