Exa Infrastructure extends Nordic reach with Finland expansion

October 16, 2024 12:17 PM

Hundreds of Finnish flags flying during the country's 100th independence day celebrations in the capital, Helsinki

EXA Infrastructure has expanded its reach to the Nordics, launching a new footprint connecting Helsinki to Stockholm.

Exa’s Nordics expansion extended its networks to the local market, bringing its direct presence to 37 countries across Europe and North America.

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“This investment opens Finland as a new market for Exa, aligning with our vision of connecting more strategic locations to our network,” said Steve Roberts, SVP of strategic investments at Exa.

Exa described Finland as a growing market, citing Telegeography figures that the country’s demand for connectivity is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32% over the next five years.

"Finland is emerging as a key hub for subsea cable systems and hyperscale data centres, and we are proud to contribute to the country’s infrastructure development with our advanced network,” Roberts added.

Finland is home to several infrastructure sites, including data centres from operators such as Equinix, atNorth, and Nebius. The Finnish Capital of Helsinki boasts the largest concentration of deployed data centres in the Nordics, around some 240MW.

The country’s cold weather makes it a suitable home for infrastructure sites as its cold weather reduces the need for artificial cooling.

Finland also boasts a stable and well-maintained electrical grid, with sustainable sites like the Lumivaara wind farm providing sustainable energy for local operators.

Earlier this year, Exa ventured into its first foray in the Nordics by partnering with Bulk Infrastructure on the Havfrue Transatlantic system, which connects the US to Norway and Denmark.

The company said its expansion into Finland further extends the Havfrue system integration and provides a direct and fast connection between the US and Finland while also avoiding the FLAP countries.

“The Nordic countries are rapidly emerging as Europe’s new digital infrastructure hub, driven by the availability of abundant green energy,” said Jim Fagan, CEO of Exa.

“The region is attracting major investments from global cloud hyperscalers and multi-tenant data centre providers. This is driving an incredible demand for resilient, scalable and diverse connectivity infrastructure to fuel the growth of this dynamic ecosystem.”