Hong Kong Data Center Scrapped By Google

A Hong Kong data center was recently scrapped by the folks at Google.

Although the company planned to spend $300 million on the center in the Kowloon area of the city, Google ultimately decided against the project due to a lack of adequate land. ZDNET reports that Google originally wanted the data center up and running at some point in 2013.

Instead of expanding into Hong Kong, Google will focus its efforts on data centers in Taiwan and Singapore. Although the company recently canceled plans to expand into Kowloon, a spokesperson said that this has absolutely no affect on the other upcoming data centers in the region.

“To keep up with the rapid growth in users and usage across the region, we need to focus on locations where we can build for economies of scale. Unfortunately, there is a lack of land for expansion in Hong Kong. We will continue to work closely with the government on this process, and will continue to invest and grow in Hong Kong.” the company said.

According to The Register, Google first announced the Hong Kong project back in 2011. However, rumors suggest that the company recent struggles with the Chinese government may have played a part in Google’s decision not to build a data center in the city.

Back in 2010, Google moved several of its servers from Mainland China to Hong Kong after a scuffle with government officials over censorship. Despite this setback, a rep for Google maintains that the company currently has no plans to scale back operations in Hong Kong.

Despite all of their problems with the Chinese government in recent years, Google firmly believes that censorship in the country could come to an end within the next decade. Executive chairman Eric Schmidt said last month that he believes change is definitely coming to regions like China and North Korea very soon.

“First they try to block you; second, they try to infiltrate you; and third, you win. I really think that’s how it works. Because the power is shifted. I believe there’s a real chance that we can eliminate censorship and the possibility of censorship in a decade,” Schmidt explained.

He added, “As the world becomes increasingly connected, their decision to be virtually isolated is very much going to affect their physical world. [Web restrictions will] make it harder for them to catch up economically. We made that alternative very, very clear.”

Are you surprised that Google scrapped plans for a data center in Hong Kong?

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