AWS is currently in discussions with the Italian Government regarding a multi-billion-euro investment to expand data centres in Italy, as part of their strategy to enhance European cloud services.
Details are still being finalized, with talks centering on the scale and location of the investment. There is even speculation about the potential expansion of AWS’s existing Milan data center or the construction of a new facility from scratch.
Interestingly, both AWS and the Italian government’s digital transition department declined to comment on the matter when approached. The industry ministry was also unavailable for a statement.
Last year, AWS launched its first cloud region in Italy and announced plans to invest 2 billion euros in the country over the next decade. This move did not come as a surprise to local industries, as prominent clients like Ferrari and Assicurazioni Generali were already onboard.
The recent news about the Italian investment follows AWS’s announcement of an even more ambitious plan to invest a substantial 15.7 billion euros in Spanish data centers over the next ten years, with 2.5 billion euros specifically earmarked for Spain.
While the Italian investment is expected to reach billions, it may not match the scale of the Spanish plans, with no immediate announcement anticipated.
AWS also has plans to invest 7.8 billion euros in Germany by 2040, in addition to efforts to provide cloud services infrastructure to telecom customers, requiring significant resources.
In a significant development earlier this month, Telefonica Deutschland revealed plans to migrate 1 million customers to the AWS cloud.
Furthermore, AWS announced plans last year to store data on servers within the European Union to enhance data privacy for government and highly regulated industry clients.
Analysts and executives note a resurgence in cloud spending by large corporate clients, driven by a growing interest in artificial intelligence, fueling growth in the $270 billion cloud infrastructure market.
Reports indicate that AWS grew by 17% in the first quarter of this year, surpassing Wall Street’s 15% growth estimate and reaching a $100 billion annual run rate for the first time.
Aside from AWS, other tech giants like Alphabet and Microsoft are also focusing on Italy. Alphabet signed a cloud agreement with Italy’s largest bank, Intesa Sanpaolo, in 2020 and invested 1 billion euros in two co-located cloud regions relied upon by Intesa.
Similarly, Microsoft announced plans last year to open their first cloud region in Italy as part of a $1.5 billion capital expenditure initiative disclosed in 2020.
With AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud making significant moves in Italy, it is evident that AI is driving growth in the cloud space, while overall cloud spending is accelerating as the industry adopts advanced technologies and customers embrace new functionalities.
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