Digital Edge reveals RFS date for OSA1 in Osaka, Japan

Digital Edge has announced its ready-for-service (RFS) date for launching its first self-build data center facility in Osaka, Japan. OSA1 is a 14MW facility located in the Osaka Central Business District. Digital Edge started the facility’s construction in April 2021 and is scheduled to be in full operation in January 2022. The new data center is part of the company’s extensive regional growth plan. Digital Edge also claimed that OSA1 represents a $110 million commitment.

OSA1 is Digital Edge’s first self-built facility in Japan. The data center building has a capacity of up to 2,600 cabinets. It will also serve the Osaka area with retail colocation. The CEO of Digital Edge, Samuel Lee, said the company has one of the most experienced data center construction and design teams. He said the completion of OSA1 on time would represent an important achievement in the coronavirus environment. Lee noted that Osaka is vital to the company as it is the second-largest metro in Japan.

Digital Edge's Press Release On October 19, 2021

Singapore – Oct 19, 2021 – Digital Edge (Singapore) Holdings Pte. Ltd. (“Digital Edge” or the “Company”), a data center platform backed by Stonepeak, today announced the ready-for-service (“RFS”) date for the initial launch of its first self-build data center in Osaka Japan. The new data center (“OSA1”), located in the Osaka Central Business District, will become fully operational on January 4, 2022. Construction started in April 2021 and is on schedule to be completed by the end of 2021.

The Osaka data center is part of Digital Edge’s expansive regional growth plans and represents a US$110M commitment. The project will achieve a RFS date less than 8 months from initial design, in what is the Company’s first self-built data center in Japan. The Osaka data center is being constructed in a purpose-built building, developed by Keihanshin Building, with a capacity of up to 2,600 cabinets and 14MW. It brings much needed retail colocation capacity to the downtown Osaka area and is in close proximity to Dojima, the core network center for western Japan. The expected completion of this newly constructed data center represents a significant milestone for Digital Edge in its efforts to create an interconnection-focused ecosystem in Osaka that will seamlessly connect to its other facilities in Tokyo and the rest of Asia.

“Digital Edge has one of the most experienced teams in data center design and construction in the industry. The team is expected to complete OSA1 construction on time, a significant achievement in a Covid-19 environment, highlighting our depth of technical expertise and ability to operate in Japan. As the second largest metro area in Japan, and the seventh largest metro area by economy in the world, Osaka is extremely important to Digital Edge and we will continue to invest and develop our data center footprint to support the growth plans of our customers,” said Samuel Lee, Chief Executive Officer of Digital Edge.

According to Structure Research, Osaka’s colocation market is expected to reach USD983 million by 2025, growing at a 5-year CAGR of 18% between 2021 and 2025 . Osaka is home to one of the highest concentrations of businesses in Japan and is gearing up to boost its innovation and start-up scene, driving the growth of the digital economy. This will in turn drive the demand for colocation and new data centers in Osaka.

Digital Edge is actively pursuing a multi-metro strategy in Japan. The downtown location of the new Osaka data center is strategic, setting the foundation for future expansion. Proximity to other network dense locations, easy access, size, and high quality of construction make OSA1 stand out from the competition. Digital Edge also intends to roll out its Cross LinkTM metro connectivity service for low-cost, ultra-high speed access, utilizing the latest generation technology, to other key data centers to deliver extra convenience for customer deployments.

“We have seen strong demand for colocation and interconnection services in Osaka. Osaka and the Kansai region, which also covers Kyoto, Kobe, and Nara, historically have been the home of key financial, manufacturing, electronics, entertainment, and other industries for Japan. Consequently, the pent-up demand for interconnect centric, low latency retail colocation service from network, cloud, content, and enterprise verticals far outstrips the current supply on the market. I am very pleased that we could bring new inventory to the market in a timely manner. We are aiming to make our OSA1 data center the next major network and interconnect hub for Osaka,” said Kei Furuta, President of Digital Edge.