The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Amr Talaat, witnessed the signing of a contract between Telecom Egypt (TE) and Raya Information Technology, a subsidiary of Raya Holding, to launch the second phase of the Regional Data Hub (RDH) project of TE. According to a press release issued by the Ministry of Communications today, the second phase is expected to be completed and operational in 18 months, in response to the growing demand for data hub services. The contract was signed by Mohamed Nasr, Managing Director and CEO of TE, and Hisham Abdel Rasoul, CEO of Raya Information Technology. The second phase follows the success of the first phase of the project, which was fully utilized in just one year. Under this contract, Raya Information Technology will provide a range of services and the latest advanced and innovative technological solutions to support digital transformation, such as enhancing the data hub's scalability and adaptability to the changes of the digital world. The new design complies with global sustainability standards, considers the issue of rising energy costs, and reduces the environmental impacts of the project. Raya Information Technology will also assist TE in obtaining Uptime Tier III certificates in design, facility construction, and operational sustainability categories. These certificates demonstrate TE's commitment to providing exceptional service quality while ensuring a flexible infrastructure for customers. The second phase of the RDH is situated in a strategic location, making it a true regional hub, allowing for more future expansions for all customers of the first phase. It is easily connected to all 10 marine landing stations that TE owns and is located on the coasts of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It also offers a unique opportunity for businesses to expand globally, with access to over 60 countries. The capacity of the regional data center after the implementation of the second phase will reach 7.1 megawatts of data loads. The plan of the project includes the construction of two additional phases, which will bring the total capacity of the project in its four phases for the existing hub in the Smart Village to 16.3 megawatts. This expansion gives current customers and potential new customers of the RDH new opportunities to adapt to the rapid changes and developments taking place in the digital world, as well as enrich the end-user experience. It represents a new step in Egypt's digital strategy and helps Egypt become one of the major data centers in the world. The first phase of RDH was launched in the first quarter of 2021 and was fully utilized. It hosts more than 22 international clients, from cloud service providers and content providers, including EG-IX, the first regional open access Internet exchange platform in partnership with AMS-IX, the leading Internet exchange platform in Europe, as well as local Internet service providers.
