Hong Kong’s data centre providers eye regional expansion to meet surging demand as coronavirus drives internet use

The total gross floor area of Hong Kong’s data centres is expected to expand by 30 per cent by 2025, according to Cushman and Wakefield

Network operators have seen internet usage rise by 20 to 30 per cent amid the Covid-19 pandemic, says Larry Tam of Equinix Hong Kong

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Data centre providers are ramping up their services to meet a pandemic-driven boom. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 12:30pm, 5 Sep 2021Updated: 3:50pm, 6 Sep 2021

Data centre providers in Hong Kong are ramping up their services to meet a pandemic-driven boom in demand, setting up new facilities in the city and across Asia-Pacific.

The total gross floor area of Hong Kong’s data centres is expected to expand by 30 per cent by 2025, according to real estate services firm Cushman and Wakefield.

Operations are expanding into Asia-Pacific too, as the region’s appetite for data has grown amid a surge in the digital economy powered by Covid-19. The value of the region’s data centre industry is expected to hit US$28 billion by 2024, according to a 2019 report from Cushman and Wakefield.

One such business riding the wave is US-based digital infrastructure company Equinix, which has a sizeable footprint in Hong Kong, with five data centres.

This year saw it expand into India with the opening of two data centres, and a new facility in Singapore. By the end of this year, Equinix plans to open one data centre in each of Japan and Australia. It currently has 49 across Asia-Pacific.

The pandemic has caused drastic shifts in digital consumption patterns in a short span of time, said Larry Tam, managing director of Equinix Hong Kong.

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