Esat BT has hotly denied reports that it is seeking to buy out the lease of UK data centre firm Telecity’s internet data centre in Citywest Business Campus, Dublin.
Reports today suggest that Esat BT made a buyout offer for Telecity’s lease as a result of a sudden spurt of growth in the data centre market after two yeas of decline that saw several data centres around Dublin shut down.
It is understood that the renewed demand for data centres in the Irish market stem from a surge in outsourcing by major Irish and international firms, such as the recent €650m deal between Hewlett-Packard and the Bank of Ireland. It is understood that several Irish financial institutions are considering outsourcing some of their operations on a similar scale in the near future.
A spokesperson for Esat BT told siliconrepublic.com: “This is not a discussion we are having with Telecity. We already have a data centre in Citywest and don’t need additional capacity at present.”
The general manager of applications hosting at Esat BT, Peter Williams, added: “If acquisitions were in the pipeline we would be broadly aware of it. As of now we are not in discussions with Telecity and are not aware of anything in the pipeline.”
One of the few data centre firms to maintain a premises throughout the flotsam of the dot.com crash, Telecity was the first large web-hosting firm to establish a data centre in the Ireland as part of a public private partnership with the Government. It connects Irish customers to Global Crossing’s international fibre network.
Telecoms analyst Ovum has claimed that demand for outsourced data centre infrastructure in Ireland will grow year on year by 20pc through 2004. Ovum valued the Irish hosting market at €9m this year, growing to €13m by 2004.
By John Kennedy
