IT firms rushing to expand data centers in Korea
By Jun Ji-hye
IT companies inside and outside the country have been rushing to build or expand their data centers here in a bid to prepare for increasing demand for keeping vast amounts of data amid rapid growth of cloud computing, internet of things and artificial intelligence markets, company officials said Wednesday.
Korea has been regarded as one of the optimal locations to operate data centers on the back of its advanced communications technology ― Korean telecom companies launched the world's first commercial fifth-generation networks in April.
Officials also cited geographical advantages.
“Korea and China are geographically close, which will make it easier to make inroads into the market there,” an official from a Seoul-based IT company said, asking not to be named. “In addition, Korea is relatively safe from natural disasters such as earthquakes compared to Japan.”
Samsung SDS has recently unveiled its new data center located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, saying the facility will become the company's strategic location to expand its cloud business.
The Chuncheon data center with a size of 39,780 square meters is the firm's fifth data center in Korea after those in Gwacheon, Gumi, Suwon and Sangam.
On Sept. 20, Samsung SDS CEO Hong Won-pyo said during a media event held at the new data center that the company will provide its clients with distinguished services through the Chuncheon data center.
Naver, the nation's largest internet portal service provider, is working to build its second data center after the one in Chuncheon.
The company selected 10 regions including Gumi, Daegu and Daejeon as candidates to host its new data center, Wednesday.
“We plan to make a final decision within the year after conducting consultations with related local governments,” a Naver official said.
The firm's plan to build the new facility comes at a time when it has engaged in competition with KT as well as global IT giants such as AWS to expand its market share in the domestic cloud computing market.
Global companies have also been speeding up their efforts to open data centers in Korea.
Oracle opened a cloud data center in Seoul in May. The U.S.-based IT firm said the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Seoul Region is a second-generation cloud data center offering upgraded services including various autonomous functions, compared to the first-generation cloud services that have been offered by companies like AWS and Microsoft.
The company is also planning to open an additional data center in Chuncheon.
Equinix, a U.S.-based company specializing in internet connection and data centers, opened its data center in Seoul in August to meet growing demand from local enterprises for high-performance interconnection systems.
For its part, Google is planning to open its data center in Seoul early next year in a bid to target the domestic cloud computing market in earnest.