Grace Ashiru
NTT Ltd,the parent company of Dimension Data and a leader in IT infrastructure and services, announced that its newest data centre would open in Johannesburg, South Africa.
NTT’s plan to grow in Africa includes building the Johannesburg 1 Data Center. It will have a capacity of 12MW and cover 6,000m2 of IT space when it is done.
The technical infrastructure is supported by N+1 uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, N+1 generator backups, and highly redundant cooling systems. This will give clients dedicated, long-lasting infrastructure, control over operations, and the design flexibility they need to meet their high-performance needs.
The facility will serve hyperscalers and enterprises, allowing them to use NTT’s full ICT services, such as managed hybrid cloud, network management, collaboration, security, and application monitoring. With a population expected to double by 2050, Africa is experiencing a digital boom. According to estimates, 615 million Sub-Saharan Africans will subscribe to mobile services by 2025, a 24% increase from 2020.
Because of this growth and reliance on technology, digital transformation projects and the need for high-performing data centre space are rising. To keep up with this growth over the next few years, NTT plans to expand its data centre footprint in Johannesburg and other African cities.
Because the new building utilizes a closed-loop chilled water system with air-cooled chillers, the water that circulates through the various cooling systems does not lose its moisture and evaporates. This makes the possibility of drought-related water restrictions less likely and makes it possible for the data centre to achieve a low power usage effectiveness (PUE) and a low water usage effectiveness (WUE).
We’re very happy to invest in a few Johannesburg and expanding our data centre network to South Africa. The country is an important part of NTT’s plan for growth as we continue to help Africa become more digital.
Florian Winkler, CEO of NTT Ltd.’s Global Data Centers EMEA, said, “As our clients build the country of tomorrow, the opening of Johannesburg 1 will help the region’s economy grow, and its society improve.”
Our presence in Africa is supported by significant digital transformation across the continent. To ensure their continued growth, companies offering new digital services require data centre space with high power density, global connectivity, carrier neutrality, cloud network access, and on-site support,” NTT Ltd.’s Head of MEA, Global Data Centers EMEA, Michael Abendanon, said.
NTT is recognized as a leader in the data centre industry, with recent openings in Madrid, Jakarta, Navi Mumbai, Berlin, and further expansions planned in Ho Chi Minh City, Prince William County, Virginia, and Cyberjaya. The data centres will align with NTT’s promise to have net-zero emissions from its data centre operations by 2030 and from the whole value chain by 2040. NTT is focused on making sure that its portfolio is powered by renewable energy by 2030 and that, where needed, it uses energy-saving measures.
