NTT Communications Sets New Industry Benchmark with Hong Kong's First Financial Data Centre

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NTT Communications Corporation

31 May, 2013, 10:30 GMT

- Over 80% of Phase One Capacity Reserved Prior to Launch Indicates Robust Industry Demand -

HONG KONG, May 31, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- NTT Communications Corporation strengthens Hong Kong SAR's strategic claim as Asia's pre-eminent financial market and ICT Hub with the unveiling of the new Hong Kong Financial Data Centre (FDC (TM)). Leveraging the company's wide, ultra-low latency networks and close proximity to the data centre operations of regional exchanges, the purpose-built data centre offers top-notch IT and network infrastructure to address the growing needs for industries like finance and cloud business with the most stringent requirements. The Tier IV* ready FDC offers 100% uptime service level and unrivalled security measures to protect the mission-critical data assets of enterprises.

(Photo: http://prw.kyodonews.jp/opn/release/201305312234/)

Phase One of the FDC was opened with impressive prestige on 31 May 2013. Akira Arima, the President & CEO of NTT Communications and Takanobu Maeda, President & CEO, NTT Com Asia Limited officiated the grand opening ceremony and were joined by guests-of-honour:

  • Ambassador Hitoshi Noda, Consul General, Consulate-General of Japan in Hong Kong
  • Ms. Susie Ho Shuk-yee, JP, Permanent Secretary for Commerce and EconomicDevelopment (Communications and Technology)
  • Mr. Charles Mok, a Member of the Legislative Council (IT Functional Constituency);

During the opening remarks, Ms. Ho said, "The Hong Kong Government is committed to promoting the development of high-tier data centres. Today the Tseung Kwan O Industrial Estate houses a cluster of 12 high-tier data centres, occupying a total of 20 hectares of land and the Hong Kong Financial Data Centre of NTT is the latest addition to this impressive data centre family. These centres with stringent performance requirements provide valuable support to the business operations and growth of both our local and international enterprises."

The FDC comes online as Hong Kong's finance industry is experiencing rapid changes and increasing demand for enhanced IT infrastructure. Hong Kong houses the sixth largest stock exchange in the world and capital inflow is also expected to see a meteoric rise with the launches of QDII2 and RQDII pilot scheme. Many regional financial services institutions (FSIs) are boosting their IT capabilities in preparation for increasing market opportunities. As a result, computer-driven trading is forecasted to comprise 58% for all equities trading in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and India this year.

"By building the FDC, we seized an important market opportunity to play an imperative role in providing a technology infrastructure that helps industry players address their business needs and support their alignment. The fact that 80% of Phase One has already been reserved not only illustrates that this is a decision well-made, it also offers testament to our commitment in building Hong Kong as an important financial and ICT hub," said Maeda. Phase Two of the FDC is expected to be completed in 2015.

Designed with state-of-the-art and green technology, the FDC offers essential infrastructure for FSIs in Hong Kong to strengthen their strategic positions in Asia and remain competitive. The new Tier IV ready data centre boasts utmost redundancy with continuous cooling system, continuous rating generators and compartmentalized infrastructure design, providing the highest level of service availability. The two phases has over 70,000 square meters of gross floor area and over 6,000 racks in total. In addition to its high capacity, the FDC is also equipped with an 8-tiered security access control, offering a strong value proposition for industry players who are most concerned about their data asset. 

The new data centre facility also offers an ultra-low latency gateway for FSIs looking to expand their business horizons. The FDC houses the landing station of the new Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) which connects key financial hubs in Asia with the shortest possible route that boasts industry leading network latency of less than 43 milliseconds from Hong Kong to Tokyo and less than 64 milliseconds from Singapore to Tokyo. Furthermore, the FDC is collocated with NTT Communications' global network node that connects to Europe and North America. Recently, the Tokyo Stock Exchange capitalized on this ultra-low latency network service in effort to increase its investor pool. In combination with modular design that facilitates hybrid tiering to meet different market needs, the FDC sets an innovative new benchmark to the industry. 

* Uptime Institute has categorized data centres into 4 tiers depending on the availability of services. Tier I has lowest availability while Tier IV has the highest availability. 

About FDC (TM)
The FDC forms part of NTT Communications' efforts as an information and communications technology (ICT) partner to provide the financial services ecosystem with comprehensive, cost-effective and reliable data centre solutions. Based on Uptime Institute's Tier IV design, the FDC also offers modular design that facilitates hybrid-tiering, a unique advantage in collocating with ASE and the global network node for ultra-low latency connectivity, high capacity to cater for future growth, and robust security at all levels. Under its newly launched Nexcenter (TM) brand, NTT Communications offers world-class quality and full-support, the next generation data centre services.

Currently, Phase One has reached completion and Phase Two is expected to be completed in 2015.
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About NTT Com Asia
NTT Communications' wholly owned subsidiary - NTT Com Asia serves as the regional headquarters of East Asia, covering Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Korea. In collaboration with its affiliate HKNet, it provides enterprise-class global network, IP connectivity, data centre, cloud hosting, cloud applications and various services and solutions in the region. Please visit www.ntt.com.hk | www.hknet.com | www.facebook.com/nttca | http://www.linkedin.com/company/ntt-com-asia-limited for further information.