NTT East said it has joined a 10-member Ishikari Data Center Consortium to turn the Hokkaido city into a major domestic cluster for data centers.
Ishikari Bay New Port offers abundant renewable energy and relatively low disaster risk, and the group plans to strengthen power and telecom infrastructure while seeking local development incentives.
Sakura Internet, Kyocera, Tokyu Land, Broadband Tower and HotNet are among the members, linking existing operators with utilities and communications providers already active in the area.
Hokkaido currently has nine data centers centered around Sapporo, while a 15MW Ishikari project backed by Tokyu Land, Flower Communications and Broadband Tower is due to open this year.