Craig Scroggie (NextDC)
Australian-based data centre operator NextDC has set its sights on Asia with plans to establish a billion-dollar facility in Malaysia, marking it as its first centre outside of its home country.
Set to be located in Klang Valley, Malaysia’s business, financial and economic hub, the facility, KL1, is part of NextDC’s global expansion efforts.
When completed, KL1 will be an uptime institute Tier IV certified data centre located less than 10 kilometres from the centre of capital city Kuala Lumpur with more than 65MW of IT critical power and direct cloud interconnectivity.
The facility is forecast to expect its first customers by 2025, with NextDC to market its services in KL1 through its existing ecosystem of over 750 technology partners, with a “considerable number” already operating in Malaysia, as well as existing and new enterprise and government customers.
In a statement, NextDC said it plans to invest over A$1 billion into KL1 and will commit to digital skilling and educational initiatives in Malaysia.
The data centre operator also said Malaysia would be used as an initial regional hub for its expansion, with continued investment over multiple years planned out, as it claimed “Asian economies [are] experiencing similar underlying economic tailwinds”, as well as rapidly taking up digital services.
While NextDC's intentions to expand into Malaysia with KL1 have been known since last month, details about the facility and the data centre operator's global expansion plans were not previously known until now.
“KL1 is a ground-breaking first for NextDC as we are delighted to be supporting the digital growth across Malaysia and the broader Asian region,” said NextDC CEO Craig Scroggie.
“Importantly, NextDC values becoming a participant in the rapid acceleration of the Malaysian digital economy through the construction of our KL1 facility, which will feature world leading sustainability designs and support critical infrastructure operations.
“The expansion into Malaysia was built on our strong working relationship with both the Malaysian and Australian governments, including Austrade, and the commitment of KL1 will only further strengthen the deep political, social and economic ties between Malaysia and Australia.”
Meanwhile, NextDC general manager for Asia and Japan Alex Teo said the land has already been purchased for the upcoming facility, in addition to meeting several planning milestones for its Asia growth strategy.
“The Australian High Commission and Austrade’s Kuala Lumpur office has been integral to getting us to this point. It has been a true partnership with shared objectives and a clear commitment to outcomes,” Teo added.
In addition to Malaysia, NextDC is also intending to expand to New Zealand with AK1 in Auckland, which has total power planned of at least 10MW.
