NBN Co the company set up by the Federal Government to design, build and operate Australia's wholesale-only, high-speed broadband network, today announced it had contracted Global Switch, a leading international wholesale data centre owner and operator, to host its primary data centre.

The data centre will house NBN Co's hardware and software systems, including those needed for the operation of its networks. The value of the contract is $3 million over the initial term.

Head of Corporate Services, Mr Kevin Brown, said Global Switch had a facility in Ultimo, Sydney which was opened in July 2002, which met NBN Co's long-term needs.

"A number of our key software applications will run on NBN Co hardware equipment located in the Global Switch facility," Mr Brown said.

"Being a start-up, we can ensure that the hosting of all our hardware and software is done cost effectively and can be up-scaled as we grow.
"These very specialised facilities need to be secure, environmentally friendly and well run," he said.

Mr Brown also said NBN Co would announce later in the year the location of its secondary data centre. At this stage NBN Co has not selected the supplier or the site for the second centre.

Global Switch's Executive Chairman, John Corcoran, said "Global Switch is pleased to welcome NBN Co to its Sydney facility and we look forward to providing additional space as it expands."

In addition to Global Switch's Sydney data centre, it has large scale facilities located in Singapore, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Madrid and Paris which provide specialist technical secure space for data centre requirements for a variety of customers including telecommunications carriers, systems integrators, managed service providers, major financial institutions, other major enterprises and public sector customers.

Media inquiries:

Rhonda Griffin
0428 134 401
www.nbnco.com.au