Telehouse Global Spotlight: Tokyo, the Heart of Japan’s Digital Awakening
November 22, 2016
Driven by Global Enterprises, Tokyo Has Become Asia’s Largest Colocation Market
The telecommunications market of Japan is among the largest, most profitable and most advanced in the world. While Japan was initially slow to introduce the internet and broadband access, today the country has more broadband subscribers than all of Europe combined. In fact, driven by the demand of high-speed internet and mobility services, the Japanese telecom industry is on track to become one of the most developed global markets.
The growth of the Japan’s telecom industry can be attributed to the burgeoning middle-class and the increased interest of leading global enterprises in establishing a presence there. Recognizing the importance of enhancing the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector across the country to improve social and commercial development, the Japanese government has taken active steps to develop its nascent digital economy, including a more liberalized approach to foreign investments and programs to encourage technological innovation.
At the heart of Japan’s digital awakening, there is a growing demand for data center space in the country’s major metro areas, especially Tokyo, spurred in part by the need to accommodate the expansion of leading multinationals’ business across the island nation. The greater Tokyo metropolitan area, the most populous in the world, has a population of approximately 35 million. Additionally, the city hosts more than 50 of the Fortune Global 500 companies, the highest number of any city, making it one of the most economically powerful metropolises. As the hub of Japan’s manufacturing, transportation, publishing, broadcasting and service industries, Tokyo stands alongside New York City and London as a global financial center.
Among the top five global metro colocation markets, Tokyo had the highest growth rate at 20 percent in 2015, according to Synergy Research. With nearly five million square feet of gross floor space, Tokyo is Asia’s largest colocation market. Moreover, as per a research report by Forrester, the data center market in Japan is expected to reach $14.2 billion this year.
Telehouse manages data centers in nine major cities in Japan, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka, as well as the Japan Internet Exchange (JPIX). JPIX, home to more than 30 major telecom carriers and ISPs, is located in the Telehouse Tokyo Otemachi data center.
Meanwhile, Telehouse Tokyo Tama 3, located in the west suburbs of Tokyo and newly opened in February 2016, offers the maximum power per rack available in Japan. The Telehouse Tokyo Tama 3 data center offers high-density colocation services, enabling the hosting of heavy load IT infrastructure, and meeting a wide range of customer needs, from internet content to private and public cloud infrastructure.
All Telehouse Tokyo data centers, as well as other facilities sited in Japan, are built with earthquake-resistant construction techniques, which are critical to disaster recovery and business continuity. Additionally, Telehouse Tokyo data centers and other facilities in Japan have a direct connection to a high capacity internet backbone that is the largest of its type in the nation. Along with KDDI’s high-speed connections to JPIX and other major internet exchanges in the U.S. and Europe, and the KDDI Cloud Server Service, which is available in all Telehouse Tokyo data centers, enterprise customers have access to connectivity that is essential for the construction of their ICT environments.
