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Articles & publications
24.05.2010
Svyazinvest rolls out the stacksVedomosti, Oleg Salmanov
Svyazinvest has worked out a rollout strategy for its data processing centers (data centers). In 2014 the holding could generate $165 mln in profits, commanding 1/3 of the market. However, to achieve this goal it will be necessary to invest $219 mln.
Vedomosti managed to learn some of the details about the strategy for rolling out commercial data processing centers, which are being worked out for Svyazinvest by Roland Berger consulting agency. Over the next five years the company will invest $219 mln into the construction of two data centers, in Moscow and Saint Petersburg. A representative of Svyazinvest Igor Pshenichnikov confirmed that this is the baseline scenario for rolling out this line of business.
At present, Rostelecom leases out 399 server stacks, according to a report issued by consultants, while another 95 are expected to be built in the regions. In 2010-2014 the number of these facilities is expected to go up exponentially, as 3,500 should be built in Moscow and another 500 in Saint Petersburg. Then by 2012 Svyazinvest could command as much as 30% of the total number of leased stacks.
”Investments are set to get under way this year, but the bulk of outlays will fall to 2011”, Mr. Pshenichnikov said. He went on to say that Rostelecom (to which all of Svyazinvest’s regional telecommunications operators are to be merged in the spring of 2011) has no financing problems and could invest into the project both its in-house funds, and also attract cost-efficient loans. The plan is to build tier-3 reliability data processing centers in Moscow, Pshenichnikov went on to say. The highest is tier-4, but there are no such data centers in Russia yet.
At present, Rostelecom leases out stacks, and this entails weak profit margins, according to a source at the holding. The plan is to boost profitability by providing more lucrative services: hosting services at first and then IT outsourcing, cloud computing, soft as a service, and others, he pointed out.
It will cost some $160 mln to build 4,000 stacks for tier-3 data centers, according to an estimate by the general director of Stack Group Sergey Lysakov. But if Svyazinvest intends to provide additional IT services it will necessary to purchase more equipment, so the amount required would be more like $219 mln, he believes. The cost of building a data center given in Roland Berger’s report is $17,000 per kilometer, which he calls appropriate, but points out that a company the size of Svyazinvest could set its sights on a more ambitious project. This is only the first stage, a source at Svyazinvest explains.
Last year, Svyazinvest generated revenue equal to $5 mln from leasing out data center stacks, but by 2014 the earnings from these services are expected to skyrocket more than 30 times to $165 mln, the consultant forecasts. The entire market for data center services will be worth about $500 mln by 2014, according to Roland Berger’s estimate. Svyazinvest’s return on investments (ROI) should be 38% and the payback deadline for the project is 2015.
Permission granted
Svyazinvest could outsource the servicing of data centers to system integrator NVision Group, in which Rostelecom has a 25% equity stake, according to a source at the holding. As a matter of fact, on Friday the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service approved Rostelecom’s application to acquire a stake in the managing company of NVision group, according to the agency’s official website. NVision has all of the key attributes to play the role of system integrator for this project, Mr. Pshenichnikov went on to say.
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