NEWS
365 days to
build Africa’s
first hyperscale
data centre
MainOne, Tizeti and
Facebook to improve Internet
connectivity in Lagos
T
he end of 2017 marked the completion
of Africa’s first hyperscale data centre,
JB2-Bredell. Owned and operated by Africa’s
largest and only vendor-neutral data centre,
Teraco, the Bredell Hyperscale Data Centre
Facility located in Bredell features over 24
MW of power and 6,000m² of technical
deployment space and is the largest
commercial data centre in operation in
Africa. The record-breaking build brings with
it much anticipation as the continent sees
more and more technology giants choosing
to co-locate to Africa.
Gys Geyser, Head of Infrastructure
Development, Teraco, says that the build
has not only been the first of its kind, but
has also been done in record time: “This is
another Teraco first as we broke the mould
of traditional brick and mortar buildings, and
opted for a warehouse-type build instead.”
He says that Teraco designed the facility
incorporating different elements of tiering
solutions and industry best practices to
ensure concurrent maintainability, with
added enhancements to cover different
levels of fault tolerance. “We were able to
double the power and cooling capacity,
using similar mission critical footprints
gained from previous deployments.”
Bredell is the fourth facility built by Teraco,
who also has locations in Cape Town, Durban
and Johannesburg (Isando). Current power
provision totals 50MW with over 18,000m²
of white space.
“Bredell is another incredible achievement
and we are excited to welcome our first
tenant this month, and look forward to
watching Bredell play an important role in the
development of Africa’s Internet economy.”
8
INTELLIGENTCIO
M
ainOne and Tizeti have announced
the completion of a joint
development project with Facebook to
enable the expansion of Internet services
in Lagos. This partnership will leverage
MainOne’s fibre connectivity, Tizeti’s 20
brand new solar-powered towers, and
Facebook’s Express Wi-Fi. As a result
of this project, Internet services will be
more accessible across Lagos Mainland
including Ajao Estate, Surulere, Ikeja,
Omole, Magodo, Gbagada, Oworonshoki,
Bariga, Anthony Village, Ogudu, Ojota,
Ketu and Alapere.
Speaking on the partnership, Chief
Executive Officer, Tizeti, Kendall Ananyi,
said, “Access to fast and reliable unlimited
Wi-Fi connectivity has been a problem
for most Nigerian residential customers
and small businesses for too long. This
partnership aims to demonstrate a
sustainable and cost-effective solution to
the underserved areas of Lagos State.”
Tizeti has built and will operate the
solar-powered Wi-Fi Towers across Lagos
while MainOne will provide multiple Gbps
Internet bandwidth to the outdoor towers
via a mix of fibre-optic and microwave
backhaul connections. This Internet
service will be delivered to end users via
Wi-Fi, including via Express Wi-Fi hotspots
deployed by Tizeti in Lagos.
MainOne’s Chief Executive Officer, Funke
Opeke, lauded Tizeti and Facebook’s
commitment to improving the quality
and lowering costs of Internet services
in Lagos.
Commenting on the partnership, she
added, “This project leverages our
Internet capacity, investment in terrestrial
fibre-optic infrastructure and points of
presence for service delivery across Lagos
State. We’re committed to improving the
quality of access and accelerating the
digital transformation.”
www.intelligentcio.com