Digital Realty's expansion into Rome will build on its existing presence in Athens, Marseille, and Zagreb, as well as hubs currently under development in Barcelona, Crete, and Tel Aviv – reinforcing its strong Mediterranean footprint.
"Developing our first data centre in Rome is an important part of our integrated strategy across the Mediterranean and strengthens our leadership position in the region,” said Jan-Pieter Anten, group managing director - EMEA at Digital Realty.
“It represents a significant expansion of PlatformDIGITAL, Digital Realty's global data centre platform, further supporting our customers as they rapidly deploy their critical infrastructure at the heart of a growing connected data community."
The first data centre (ROM1) is a tier four facility, as classified by the Uptime Institute. Construction is due to start in Q4 2023. Spanning 22 hectares of land, the facility is located within 15km of the coast, positioning it well as an interconnection point for future subsea cables landing in Rome.
"The delivery of a carrier-neutral facility in Rome will help enable the digital transformation strategies of local enterprises and global customers in the region,” said Alessandro Talotta, managing director of Digital Realty in Italy.
“Our customers will greatly benefit from the facility being highly connected to both terrestrial and subsea cable networks."
According to Maurizio Goretti, CEO, Namex, Digital Realty's vision for Rome as a key Mediterranean connectivity hub is aligned with that of Namex, Rome's Internet Exchange.
"Digital Realty and Namex have a common goal of transforming Rome into a leading global interconnection hub," said Goretti.
"Digital Realty's pedigree in developing highly connected data communities in carrier-neutral connectivity hubs is a critical ingredient in the achievement of this goal."