Data flows to the server-east – Newspaper Kommersant No. 173 (7374) of 09/20/2022

VimpelCom will create a data processing center (DPC) near Vladivostok together with Key Point, which is developing a network of data centers under the 3data franchise. Investments in the project, according to expert estimates, can reach up to 3 billion rubles. MegaFon and Rostelecom also plan to enter the region with similar projects. Experts admit that there is demand for data center services in Primorye, but they emphasize that so far it is concentrated in the Moscow region.

VimpelCom signed an agreement with Key Point (franchisee of the 3data data center network) to launch a data center with a capacity of 880 racks near Vladivostok. As the participants in the transaction told Kommersant, the first stage will be available for operation by the end of the year, VimpelCom will reserve a “significant amount” of data center capacity for its capacity to provide services to businesses. VimpelCom will also become a provider of telecom services for data center customers after the completion of three fiber optic routes. A similar project in the region could cost 2-3 billion rubles, says a Kommersant source in the data center market.

The agreement on the construction of a data center in the Nadezhdinskaya priority development area in the Primorsky Territory was signed in September 2021, now the parties have entered into a contract with mutual responsibility, VimpelCom specified to Kommersant. MegaFon also announced the deployment of data storage services in the region: the operator signed a memorandum of cooperation with Key Point in Siberia and the Far East. Key Point and VimpelCom also signed an agreement in September to build a data center in the Novosibirsk Region. The operator will transfer the rights to the site in the industrial and logistics park to Key Point.

Rostelecom President Mikhail Oseevsky also spoke about the intention to launch a data center in the Far East at the Eastern Economic Forum in September. As the interlocutor in the data center market explained to Kommersant, before that there were no major players in the segment in Primorye, and services were provided by “several local players”.

The future of facilities in Primorye will depend on the state of the market and on the real demand for capacities in the region, says Igor Dorofeev, president of the Association of Data Center Industry Participants. He cites the modularity of the KeyPoint data center as an advantage: “This allows you to dose costs, and in case of unexpected high demand, introduce additional queues.” The current state of the project, according to Mr. Dorofeev, should be assessed according to the specific parameters of the contract with VimpelCom. “If he really reserves a large enough slot – at least one module, that is, 220 racks – then this will mean that the chosen business model of the project is successful,” the expert believes.

Data centers in the Far East are needed, but their construction and operation are fraught with risks, says Pavel Kulakov, CEO of the data center and cloud provider Oxygen, including a possible shortage of qualified engineers, as well as the fact that “management decisions will still be made in Moscow.” In his opinion, “cloud IT products do not find mass demand” outside the Moscow region. Although the Russian market for data center equipment is being rebuilt to supply from Southeast Asia, the location of the facility in Primorye will not create a significant advantage, Mr. Kulakov specifies.

After the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the suspension of supplies from large Western vendors, data center market participants rather froze projects in the regions. So, in June it became known that the construction was stopped by Rostelecom. But already in August, the company announced the resumption of projects. Vimpelcom does not see the risks of a shortage of equipment for the project, specifying that they are considering “several options for providing the necessary equipment in a situation of limited supplies.”

Yuri Litvinenko, Yulia Tishina