Policy Observatory
Server farm in sub-Arctic
The attraction of the extreme north for many tech companies is both practical and environmental. In the tiny sub-Arctic town of Lulea, Facebook has operated a 30,000 square meter server farm since 2013 -- its first such facility outside the U.S.. TeliaSonera is currently laying down Skanova Backbone North, a 1,250-kilometer (776-mile) fiber cable that will serve mobile and communications networks as well as provide the digital infrastructure that data centers in northern Sweden require. Lulea will soon host another large data facility for UK-based data-storage specialist firm, Hydro66, while the nearby town of Boden welcomed Bitcoin mining group KnCMiner earlier this year. Across the border in Finland, Google runs a similar operation in the town of Hamina.
Country: Global
Domains: IG
Stakeholder: Industry
Tags: data storage, fiber cable, tech companies, Google, Facebook, sub-Arctic, server farm