Massive New Data Center Will Bring Windows Azure to China

Chinese Internet service provider 21Vianet announced that it has started construction of a new data center in the Daxing District of Beijing. The facility will be capable of holding 5,000 cabinets, the largest facility in China as measured by cabinet capacity. The 42,000 square meter (approximately 452,000 square foot) data center will be built in phases, with the first phase expected to be fully operational by the end of 2013. The data center will be wholly operated and owned by 21Vianet.

"We are excited to announce the addition of this mega data center in Beijing, China," said Josh Chen, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at 21Vianet. "We believe this expanded facility will further bolster 21Vianet's leading market position for hosting and management network services. In addition, we will also utilize this data center to power Microsoft's premier commercial cloud services. We remain committed to providing our customers with the IT Infrastructure services required to grow their businesses and meet today's increasingly complex and demanding networking requirements."

Late last year Microsoft signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the municipality of Shanghai, and signed agreement to license Microsoft technologies to 21Vianet, who will offer Azure in China out of local data centers.

"We believe that with our consistent expansion in data centers and network coverage as well as the rollout of our cloud platform, we are well-positioned to capture new opportunities to become China's leader in the rapidly emerging market for cloud computing infrastructure services," said Shang Hsiao, President and Chief Financial Officer at 21Vianet. "At this stage, we do not expect to raise our current guidance for capital expenditures for the full year of 2013, which remains contingent upon the finalization of our roll out schedule and financing strategy."