Construction of the Leading Edge Data Centre facility in Mayfield West began earlier this week.
The new data centre will boost jobs, create much-needed network infrastructure, and strengthen the digital economy of Newcastle and the greater Hunter region.
CEO of Leading Edge Data Centres, Chris Thorpe, said that 10 August marks a groundbreaking and significant milestone for regional cities with this latest development.
Chris believes the centre will allow Newcastle’s city to keep up with its major counterparts, operating with world-class cloud connectivity.
“This is a great leap forward towards our Hunter project which will provide the same internet and direct cloud connectivity as any other metropolitan city,” he said.
Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes welcomed the opportunity for 130 new jobs in the Newcastle region, which is said will come as a result of the new centre.
“This construction and expansion of IT infrastructure will support the local community, as well as provide new opportunities for economic growth for local businesses,” she said.
“It’s another example of how the City of Newcastle is creating a smart, global city under the Newcastle Smart City Strategy.”
The construction is in partnership with Ausgrid, who are providing the land, access to the electrical network, and fibre infrastructure at Mayfield West.
Ausgrid is the largest distributor of electricity on Australia’s east coast and provides power to 1.8 million households and businesses across 22,000 square kilometres covering Sydney, the Central Coast, and the Hunter Valley.
Ausgrid Chief Customer Officer, Rob Amphlett Lewis, said Ausgrid is delighted to support this project which is aligned to its business purpose of connecting communities and empowering lives.
“It’s more important than ever before for our communities to be connected,” Rob said.
“By collaborating with our partners like Leading Edge Data Centres, Ausgrid not only ensures reliable power for customers, but also supports reliable access to the data their technology relies upon.”
Leading Edge Data Centres rollout is rapidly expanding over 14 regions in NSW over the next 12 months.
DA approval has been given by Newcastle Council to open a data centre in Newcastle Airport.
Planning is also well advanced on the expansion of the Edge data centre network into regional locations in Victoria and Queensland.
Leading Edge Data Centres is a technology company with a mission to bridge the digital divide of regional Australia.
The build of their digital network will enable faster application performance spanning across many industries, such as content hosting, IoT data processing, smart cities, deployment of 5G, digital mapping, AgriTech, autonomous machinery, telehealth and more.
IMAGE | Leading Edge Data Centre CEO, Chris Thorpe, CXO, Lauren Ryder and City of Newcastle CIO, Paul Dickson taking a closer look at what’s to come.
