(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — South African telecommunications provider Telkom (www.telkom.co.za), which is partly owned by the government, announced this week it has opened a new $47 million (350 Rand) data center in Cape Town suburb, Bellville, according to a report by Tech Central.
The data center is part of Telkom’s expansion strategy for its converged IT and telecommunications, according to a report by TechCentral.
This marks Telkom’s sixth data center, including four in Gauteng, which is near Johannesburg, and one other facility in Bellville. The six facilities total floor capacity of 31,824 square feet.
The facility is one of the first carrier-neutral data centers in South African. The data center’s location of Bellville is close to Telkom’s intercontinental submarine cable landing in Melkbosstrand.
Until recently, Telkom was the only company that operated a cable that connected Sub-Saharan Africa to the rest of the world.
The South African IT market has grown significantly within the past yaer, following its further deregulation in 2008, which opened the market to additional carriers, the rollout of high-speed fibre links and new undersea cables.
In September, South African colocation provider Teraco Data Environments hosted an event for senior UK executives in London, in an effort to drive growth to the South African market.
