David Yuile - Metronode CEO
Metronode has opened its second data centre facility in the Wollongong suburb of Unanderra, NSW, just months after revealing plans to spend more than $150 million in infrastructure projects this year.
The new data centre, which has been granted Uptime Institute Tier III certification for design and constructed facility, will provide colocation services for Illawarra enterprise and commercial customers as well as the NSW Government’s GovDC data centre program.
The data centre operator built its first facility in Unanderra five years ago, with the NSW Government a key client as it implemented its GovDC (Government Data Centres) program, involving the consolidation of more than 100 data centres into two Metronode facilities at Unanderra and Silverwater in Sydney.
“Metronode has been trusted by the NSW Government to build and operate data centres since 2012. We look forward to welcoming local Illawarra businesses into our new Unanderra hall,” Metronode CEO, David Yuile, said.
In July, Metronode revealed plans to spend more than $150 million in infrastructure projects in 2017, with new data halls being built in Wollongong and Sydney as well as an 8MW expansion in Melbourne for a major international customer.
The company said in January it would begin construction on the new data halls at its Silverwater and Unanderra facilities to accommodate growing demand from the NSW Government.
In August, Metronode also announced plans to acquire additional land in Shenton Park, Perth to expand its footprint in Western Australia.
“Perth is the gateway to Asia and Metronode’s data centres in both Perth and the East Coast provide world-class, highly-secure facilities able to meet customers data storage, redundancy, business continuity and cloud storage requirements,” Metronode managing director, Josh Griggs, said at the time.
The latest data centre launch comes as reports emerge that Singapore-headquartered communications, media and technology investment firm, ST Telemedia, is on the hunt for a local co-investor to partner up with on an acquisition bid for Metronode.
According to a report by Fairfax Media, sources indicate that ST Telemedia could be in talks with domestic superannuation funds to secure a local backer.
ST Telemedia was one of two prospective international buyers of the data centre operator, along with Equinix, that were rumoured to have been in talks with local bankers earlier this year to help with their respective bids for Metronode, Fairfax reported in September.
