Credit: Digital Edge
Digital Edge has announced the availability of its new 10MW data centre in Manila, marking the provider’s entry into the Filipino market.
Plans to build the facility were first unveiled last December. Dubbed NARRA1, the new date centre will be ready-for-service from 1 March 2023 and is part of Digital Edge’s mission to bridge the digital divide in Southeast Asia’s high growth markets.
The facility is a joint project with the Threadborne Group, a local family office focused on technology and real estate.
“We are delighted to announce the opening of our first data centre which will provide much needed critical infrastructure to domestic and international cloud, network and enterprise customers, without compromising on our environmental responsibilities,” said Charlie Rufino, chairman of Threadborne Group.
“We look forward to further partnership with Digital Edge as we seek to capitalise on the ongoing digital transformation of the Philippines’ economy and usher in a new era of world class digital infrastructure.”
According to Digital Edge, it aims to plug unmet demand from the double-digit growth - estimated to be 22 per cent CAGR - of the Philippines’ data centre colocation market which Structure Research estimates will grow to US$313 million by 2026.
“The completion of NARRA1, our first major greenfield design and build project since the company was established, is a landmark moment in the creation of our regional platform across Asia,” stated Samuel Lee, CEO of Digital Edge.
“As we come online in the Philippines for the first time with this state-of-the-art facility, we further enhance our presence in South East Asia and progress our mission to bridge the digital divide by building the essential, sustainable digital ecosystems of the future.”
Located in Binan Laguna in close proximity to the Central Business District (CBD), the 2,200 cabinet data centre is expected to be the largest carrier neutral facility in operation in the Philippines at the time of completion. It has been designed to meet the latest demands from cloud, network, digital media, and enterprise customers in terms of power specifications, reliability, security, and sustainability.
In line with the provider’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy, it is anticipating the new facility to be the most energy and water efficient data centre in the market with a PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) of < 1.2 and a WUE (Water Usage Effectiveness) of 1.355 at optimal operating temperature. The facility will also be triple certified with LEED Gold, BERDE, and EDGE certifications.
“We are proud to make our debut in Manila with this truly exceptional facility which will finally offer the Philippines the much needed, high quality digital infrastructure it deserves," added Vic Barrios, country manager of the Philippines at Digital Edge.
"Most importantly NARRA1 raises the bar in terms of sustainable design and operational efficiency, and we hope it becomes the new gold standard for green data centres in the Philippines and beyond."
Digital Edge has confirmed it has already received bookings for the new data centre including from “multiple major domestic internet service providers”.
