Subsea Cables & Internet Infrastructure

Both the Dutch government and municipalities have banned data centre building in Amsterdam as well as power upgrades for existing facilities. The initial data centre ban was lifted several years ago, but stringent energy efficiency standards have deterred subsequent building and created an image of a city hostile to business. On top of that, the municipality is denying power upgrades. For example, the only way to get incremental power right now at AM5, arguably the single best peering point in the city, is to get vacated or novated space. A client of mine asked for space there, but Equinix replied that power was maxed out and authorities had frozen the total power available to AM5 at the current level. Some local observers argue these moratoriums largely reflect infrastructure neglect in areas like transmission, but I suspect at least in part it is an attempt to appease the Dutch public over power rates. The current Dutch government qualifies as very right wing populist with a host of ...

Dutch governments need to stop being wimps and let the data centre industry grow. There is a moratorium on Amsterdam data centre build permits as well as power upgrades. Government leaders are supposed to lead, not cower in their offices afraid of public opinion. I have clients who cannot colocate in Amsterdam facilities such as AM5 because no spare power capacity is available. The Dutch government should long term add nuclear facilities to handle growing long term power demand and beef up the transmission networks as opposed to public-pleasing moratoriums on data centre building. Or pushing solar panels for a wet and rainy climate at high latitude. Picture below of AM5, one of the best peering points in the Netherlands. Clock on  https://thetechcapital.com/a-regulatory-chokehold-is-suffocating-amsterdams-data-centre-growth/ .