Dimension Data and its parent, Japan’s NTT, recently announced plans to build new a huge new data centre in Johannesburg.
Construction on the companies’ Johannesburg 1 Data Centre has commenced, Dimension Data said in a statement. It will be located near OR Tambo International Airport and will offer diverse fibre connectivity, fully redundant power supply and cooling infrastructure.
The site includes plans to host an NTT Technology Experience Lab for clients and partners to test and validate technology solutions and IT deployments in a live data centre environment.
The data centre design is based on tier-3 standards and will be constructed in two phases. When fully built, it will deliver a total of 6 000 square metres of IT space and 12MW of IT load. The first phase of the site is scheduled to become operational in early 2022.
Dimension Data already operates 11 data centres with up to 10MW of IT load across Africa.
“This demand for capacity is driven by local and international clients’ strong need for robust co-location infrastructure across Africa and will allow Dimension Data to meet the increasing requirements of its clients across the continent and Middle East,” the statement said.
“The Johannesburg 1 Data Centre will enable us to increase our capabilities and global capacity, to meet our international clients’ expanding needs for infrastructure across the African market,” said Florian Winkler, CEO of the Global Data centres Europe, Middle East and Africa a division of NTT.
The expansion in Johannesburg is part of the growth strategy of the Global Data Centres division of NTT, which operates one of the largest data centre platforms in the world. With over 160 data centres spanning more than 20 countries and regions, NTT Group’s clients and partners have access to a powerful digital ecosystem with global reach and local expertise.
Dimension Data has built up extensive intelligent infrastructure capability, which includes data centres, hybrid connectivity solutions and cloud, enables our clients to operate sustainable, intelligent businesses, and importantly, is contributing to economic growth and social development across the region.
Grant Bodley, CEO, Dimension Data, said: “Africa’s Digital Transformation will be accelerated with the right infrastructure investments. This partnership, bolstering our already significant data centre footprint, comes at a time when demand for digital content, cloud services, new technologies such as Internet of Things, mobile money and content delivery networks are on the rise.”
Johannesburg 1 Data Centre will be located in the ‘Central Point Innovation District’ in Johannesburg.
