Google Inc (GOOG) Unveils First-Ever Data Centers In Asia

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Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s first two data centers in Asia are up and running, the company announced Tuesday. The two data centers are located in Taiwan and Singapore. The search engine giant had announced in 2011 that it would build another data center in Hong Kong. But the company has decided not to build that data center due to relatively higher costs and unavailability of spacious land, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) said.

Google invests $300M in Taiwan data center

The search engine giant has poured in more than $120 million into its Singapore facility and $300 million into the Taiwan data center. Its Taiwanese unit in Changhua county is larger of the two, spread over 37 acres of land. The Mountain View-based company said that it will increase its investment in the Taiwan facility to $600 million over the long-term. Experts say that Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) might have scrapped its Hong Kong plan because of its proximity to China. But Taj Meadows, Asia-Pacific policy communications manager at Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG), denied those speculations. Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) has had an adversarial relationship with China since the Communist Party blocked Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG)’s website and other services in the country.

Asia offers immense opportunities for Google

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) opens its data centers in Asia as the continent has registered stupendous growth in the number of Internet users. And a large portion of Asian population still doesn’t have Internet access. So, there remains a huge potential for growth. For example, Asia added 60 million new mobile Internet users during the July-September quarter. That’s three times the population of Australia. China has over 500 million Internet users. And India has witnessed its number of Internet users growing from 100 million to 200 million in less than two years.

Data centers house security devices, storage systems, computers and backup power supplies. The company said its Singapore and Taiwan facilities will help its Asia users access its services at a faster pace, and provide more reliability. The company has 12 data centers around the world.

Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) shares were little changed at $1,085.11 at 11:19 AM EST. The stock has gained 53.37% this year so far.

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