Chances are that in the last month, if you’re an active Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) user, you’ve seen posts suggesting ways of safeguarding your privacy from the social media giant. Most are simply re-posted hoaxes but its difficult to use Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and be unaware of the amount of data about you that they are sharing.
It’s easy to blame the company as a whole but rarely do people start the blame with the towns and cities of Prineville, Oregon; another in Forest City, North Carolina; and a yet-to-be-completed facility in Luleå, Sweden.
Why blame them? Well you probably shouldn’t, but these are the three host towns for Facebook’s data centers and it appears that Altoona, Iowa will soon be joining their ranks.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) has been quiet on the subject when prompted for a statement from various media outlets, but the Des Moines Register has released a few details today. The information, of which, is seemingly coming from legislative sources in the state.
The paper said today that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) would be bringing a $1 billion building to the Altoona, IA area and that it will represent “the most technologically advanced data center in the world.”
The project is expected to be completed in two $500 million phases near Altoona, where leaders have given the “go ahead” for a 1.4 million square foot facility. Once finished, the project is expected to cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.5 billion.
Rumors also suggest that Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) will be looking for wind energy tax credits to lower its costs and take advantage of the flat and often windy Iowa landscape. Those tax credits would require legislative action on both a state and federal level.
This will not be the first data center in the area. LightEdge was built in 2006, and Enseva will break ground this spring.
The reasons for Altoona’s appeal:
• Access to an extensive interstate fiber optic cable system, already installed within the city and running along Interstate Highway 80.
• Proximity to adequate power and water utilities. (A large Mid-American substation is less than half a mile from the 200-acre site.)
• Open and affordable land with low natural disaster risks. (Coastal cities often face the threat of hurricanes and earthquakes.) This may be just a little bit of Iowa reporting. They may have forgotten to mention tornadoes.
Not unlike the rivalry in college football, apparently Iowa was in a fierce battle with Nebraska for the data center project.
