20 billion euros invested in Italy! Digital Realty (DLR.US) seizes the throat of Mediterranean data traffic.

Data center operator Digital Realty (DLR.US) plans to invest 2 billion euros ($23 billion) in Italy over the next five years as part of its focus on Mediterranean European expansion. Alessandro Talotta, Managing Director of Digital Realty Italy, said that the company, headquartered in Austin, expects to employ hundreds of local workers as they build facilities in Rome and Milan. Talotta stated, "The Mediterranean region is of significant strategic importance, as data traffic from Asia, the Middle East, and Africa must pass through this area to reach Europe." Talotta said that over time, Italy is expected to become one of the largest markets for Digital Realty in Europe. The data center campuses in Rome and Milan will be integrated into the network system covering Barcelona, Marseille in France, and Athens. Fabrice Coquio, Regional Manager of Digital Realty, stated that by 2030, the Mediterranean region will account for 56% of Digital Realty's planned investments in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. After entering Rome in 2023, the company built a new 84-megawatt data center in Milan. The target capacity of the Rome data center is 62 megawatts, and it is expected to be operational in early next year. Due to the surge in global data center computing power demand, Digital Realty's stock price has risen by over 30% in the past year. In Europe, French artificial intelligence startup Mistral AI raised $830 million in debt financing for a data center project on the outskirts of Paris; meanwhile, data center operator EdgeConneX Inc. announced a 7.075 billion securitization project related to its Amsterdam facility. However, Europe still lags behind the United States in data center construction. Talotta mentioned that the faster approval processes and more proactive industrial policies in the U.S. are accelerating data center deployments. This month, OpenAI paused a data center project in the UK to control costs. According to BloombergNEF data, driven by demand for artificial intelligence computing power, data center capacity is expected to increase by 22% in 2025, reaching a new high. Digital Realty, which operates over 300 data centers globally, acquired the European company Interxion in 2019. In addition to core projects, Digital Realty is also exploring participation in the EU-supported Italian artificial intelligence "super factory" project. Talotta stated that such a project may require around 200 megawatts of capacity, and if selected as a partner, this would bring additional investment opportunities. He also mentioned ongoing discussions with the Italian government.