EdgeConneX managing director for Asia Pacific Kelvin Fong and Aboitiz InfraCapital president and CEO Cosette Canilao at the signing ceremony
Aboitiz InfraCapital Inc. (AIC) is diversifying into data centers through its partnership with United States-based technology firm EdgeConnex (ECX) to provide infrastructure solutions to the growing sector of hyperscalers.
The infrastructure arm of the Aboitiz Group, in a disclosure on Wednesday, said its agreement with ECX involves the formation of two joint venture companies that would build, operate and maintain data center facilities.
One will rise near the National Capital Region, while a secondary facility is eyed in Greater Manila Area.
“The joint venture aims to address the rising data usage in the Philippines by developing a data center platform that will house cloud service providers’ information technology (IT) equipment, enabling them to better support the Philippine market,” the Aboitiz Equity Ventures unit said.
A data center stores critical applications and data. A hyperscaler data center provides a much larger computing environment, like Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google GCP, Alibaba AliCloud, IBM and Oracle.
AIC said the partnership would leverage on the global technical knowhow of ECX when it comes to hyperscalers. The Aboitiz unit, meanwhile, brings to the table its local expertise and assets, including a 1,400-hectare of prime industrial real estate and diversified renewable energy capacity.
Cosette Canilao, AIC president and CEO, said this would support the country’s digital infrastructure ecosystem and address market demand.
“Businesses are increasingly turning to cloud service providers—or ‘hyperscalers’ —for cost efficiency, flexibility and scalability; and thus the need for data centers has never been more demanding,” Aboitiz Group president and CEO Sabin Aboitiz said.
Growing e-commerce activities and remote working have translated to higher data usage in the country.
“We look forward to investing in the digital economy of the Philippines and meeting our customers’ needs throughout the region. They complement our capabilities required to successfully capture this market opportunity,” ECX CEO Randy Brouckman said.
According to real property expert Knight Santos Frank, data center capacity in the country may grow to 220 megawatts (MW) from the current 94 MW based on existing and potential projects. •INQ