Open DC Forms Strategic Alliance with Northern Gateway Sdn Bhd to Develop A Tier-3 Data Centre in Delapan Special Border Economic Zone

Putrajaya, 14 April 2022 – Open DC, one of the nation’s leading telecom-hub data centre provider is forming a strategic alliance with Northern Gateway Sdn Bhd (NGX), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc.) by signing a Master Agreement to develop a Tier-3 data centre in Delapan Special Border Economic Zone (formerly known as Kota Perdana Special Border Economic Zone), a high-tech park at Bukit Kayu Hitam, the border town between Thailand and Malaysia.

The trade between Malaysia and Thailand is expected to hit RM125 billion by 2025. Of this amount, an estimated 45 per cent is passing through Bukit Kayu Hitam, the border town between Thailand and Malaysia. The development of Open DC’s data centre in the economic zone will serve to further enhance the trading volume by developing cross-border Internet traffic.

Wong Weng Yew, Founder and Managing Director of Open DC said the technology hub will complement the development of Delapan as a vibrant business hub in the north, allowing tech players to develop business hosting with better connectivity through Open DC’s data centre.

“We aim to improve the internet development at the northern border, to emulate the existing neighbouring Internet Exchange (IX) via the Malaysia-Singapore border. Given the sheer volume of Internet traffic exchanged between Indo-China through this location, the hub will also be developed as a strategic area to become the new commercial hub as well as a data centre in the north,” he added.

Echoing this, Razwin Sulairee Hasnan Termizi, Chief Executive Officer of NGX said, “Delapan is proud to be the host to millions of digital contents that will be stored by Open DC. This data centre will be the conduit to connect friends and families, businesses and customers, and most importantly, it connects Delapan to the world.”

The Delapan Special Border Economic Zone will contribute to the development of internet infrastructure as well as the digital and industrial revolution that are intertwined with the local internet ecosystem, complementing both the state and federal digital development blueprint in terms of network infrastructure. The interconnectivity hub will also provide local internet connections to businesses in the northern districts, as well as a more convenient and accessible place for tech players.

As part of the strategic partnership, the hub is scheduled to be completed by 2024 to open doors for potential collaborations with other regional tech players and private sectors in the industry to further enhance the nation’s Internet infrastructure as well as a step forward in Malaysia’s Internet infrastructure by establishing an interconnectivity hub along the northern borders for better Internet performance.

At the same time, an IX point will also be set up in this data centre to facilitate the traffic exchange in this region by DE-CIX Malaysia, an IX operator that brings low latency and high-speed connectivity to underserved areas of the region.