Less than two months after Melita launched its new co-location data centre in Madliena, the market’s response has been so encouraging that it is already running at almost full capacity and the operator is planning an expansion.
The new centre provides essential infrastructure to data-hungry companies in the financial services sector, i-gaming, IT companies and systems integrators among others, and exploits the infrastructure used by Melita in its role as an internet service provider (ISP) with its own international submarine data cable.
It also provides these companies with essential disaster recovery and business continuity services that are today considered a crucial factor in the commercial and technical survival of a company.
“Cutting-edge data facilities, such as these developed by Melita, are particularly attractive for financial services, system integrators and online gaming operators, who are increasingly finding Malta as a reliable and secure location from where to conduct their business,” explained Ludolf Rasterhoff, chief commercial officer at Melita.
He described this result as another success story for the company and reaffirmed its commitment to strengthen Malta’s telecommunications infrastructure. Thanks to its investments in its network infrastructure, Melita is creating optimum conditions for more foreign companies to consider Malta as an ideal base for their operations.
The investment in a new data centre falls within the multimillion-euro investment programme that Melita is rolling out over a five-year period, amounting to an investment of €60 million in technology and network upgrades.
The data centre has been built to what in the industry is known as Tier 3 standard and offers all the security and redundancy features that make a 24/7 operation possible. This includes security of the premises in terms of all-round perimeter fencing, access control to different areas of the building, fire prevention and suppression, power supply, the internal data network and data links to the outside world. The fact that the building stands alone without adjacent buildings, and it is not in motor vehicle or flight paths, renders the facility even more secure.
Since the data centre is hosted in Melita’s head-end in Madliena, it exploits Melita’s fibre-powered infrastructure, and Melita corporate customers who opt to use the services of the data centre can benefit from this feature directly.
However, the data centre is carrier-neutral in the provision of ISP services in the sense that it allows its customers to chose the services of any ISP in Malta and not those exclusively provided by Melita.
Asked about managed cloud services, Mr Rasterhoff explained that at this stage Melita is opting to offer such services through third party service specialists and system integrators. A healthy number of these are already present in Melita’s new data centre.
Data centre corporate customers can also benefit from service level agreements that cover 24/7 operations and a business helpdesk separate from Melita’s customer care centre that supports home users.
Riding on this very successful experience, Melita is now already planning a second phase for its data colocation centre, which will offer even more space than what is currently available. The operator is also looking into the possibility of adding new services within the co-location framework to address specific requirements for companies operating in the i-gaming and financial services sectors.