Amazon’s computing branch, AWS, is in talks with Italy to spend billions of euros on the country’s data centre industry expansion as part of the internet giant’s attempt to strengthen its cloud offering in Europe, according to Bloomberg.
TakeAway Points:
- AWS is in talks with Italy to spend billions of euros on the country’s data centre industry expansion.
- AWS has revealed a 15.7 billion euro investment in data centres located in the northeastern Aragon region of Spain.
Data Centre Industry Expansion
The report stated that talks are still underway between the parties over the scope and location of the investment and that Amazon Web Service (AWS) is thinking about either creating a new facility or expanding its existing one in Milan.
AWS intends to invest two billion euros (S$2.9 billion) by 2029, and in 2020 it will open its first cloud location in Italy. According to its website, among its clients in the nation are insurer Assicurazioni Generali and luxury automaker Ferrari.
AWS Investment Plan
AWS has revealed a 15.7 billion euro investment in data centres located in the northeastern Aragon region of Spain. This plan replaces the 2.5 billion euro 10-year plan that the business had previously announced in 2021 specifically for the country.
One of the sources claims that although AWS will invest billions in Italy, it might not go as far as its ambitions for Spain. There will not be a statement anytime soon.
AWS intends to invest 7.8 billion euros in Germany by the year 2040. It is also constructing the necessary infrastructure to offer telecom clients cloud services, which call for a lot of resources.
When Telefonica Deutschland revealed its ambitions to migrate one million users to the AWS cloud earlier this month, it acquired its first client.
Amazon’s Data Storage Plan
In an effort to safeguard government and customer privacy in highly regulated businesses, Amazon last year revealed its intentions to store data on servers situated in the European Union.
Many large corporate clients have resumed spending on cloud computing, according to analysts and executives, after taking a break last year. This is because artificial intelligence is fueling the US$270 billion cloud infrastructure market’s growth.
Alphabet has committed one billion euros in Italy to establish the two cloud regions that Intesa Sanpaolo depends upon. In 2020, Alphabet struck a historic agreement to provide cloud services to Italy’s largest bank.
As part of an investment plan of US$1.5 billion that it revealed in 2020, Microsoft announced a year ago that it was building its first cloud region in Italy.
AWS Cloud Infrastructure Expansion
Meanwhile, Amazon Web Services earlier this month announced that it would expand its cloud infrastructure and services in Singapore by investing an additional $9 billion over the next five years.
However, Amazon said that it has invested more than SG$11 billion in Singapore’s cloud ecosystem since its entry into Singapore.
The company has taught over 400,000 Singaporeans cloud computing skills, and it plans to “continue to invest in upskilling and enhancing productivity” all throughout the nation.
Priscilla Chong, country manager of AWS Singapore, pointed out that “even since our investment in Singapore in 2010, AWS has strengthened their commitment to the ASEAN region, sharing the uplift [in] digital skills across the nations and providing secure and resilient infrastructure consistently across the region.”
