The city of Hull, UK, will significantly expand its wireless internet capabilities with the installation of a specially-designed data centre as part of its ambition to become a smart city.
The new, specially-designed data centre will be called CXNDC and is expected to cost some £5m (~€5.7m). It will be built by local internet company Connexin, which has already secured a ten-year contract with Hull City Council to provide WiFi across the city centre. The centre aims to create new opportunities for local businesses and technology firms in the digital sector across the region.
The specially-designed data centre has been designed to ‘tier-3’ reliability specifications, and will add more than 40,000 Mbps of internet connectivity to Hull. Much of CXNDC’s capacity has already been acquired by businesses based in the region, although more is being added to satisfy additional demand, and the centre will offer the option of manages or co-located facilities.
The facility is expected to open by December, and Connexin has announced that it will be responsible for creating 60 additional jobs, including engineers, technicians and sales staff.
What have the stakeholders said of the project?
Furqan Alamgir, CEO of Connexin, said that the investment of £5m into the new data centre demonstrates the commitment of businesses and local authorities in the region to the development of Hull as a smart city.
He explained: “Hull is not hanging about in its race to become a smart city. Our investment is real, it’s happening and this state of the art data centre is proof of that. Hull is advancing technologically at pace and it’s a privilege to be part of it.”
The development of smart cities typically relies on the collection of vast amounts of data from sensors placed around a city. This data then needs to be stored, processed and interpreted before it can be put to use. This is just one potential application of the new, specially-designed data centre.
