SINGAPORE–CITIC Telecom International CPC (CITIC Telecom CPC) believes its existing cloud data centers in China give it an advantage in the infrastructure-as-a-service space, as it kicks off its expansion plans into Southeast Asia with its first regional data center in Singapore.
Its SmartCLOUDcentre launched here Friday is CITIC Telecom CPC’s sixth data center worldwide. The company’s other cloud data centers are based in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taiwan, and two in Hong Kong.
In a phone interview with ZDNet Asia, CEO Stephen Ho, said that infrastructure-as-a-service was a relatively newer offering provided by the Hong Kong-headquartered company. Ho said the company had started off providing services such as Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)-based virtual private network (VPN), data center services as well as managed security services.
While other telecoms service providers have entered the cloud space, Ho said the company’s advantage lay in its geographical coverage as its servers are located in the Greater China region and Asean region.
The CEO added that its cloud service is built on top of its MPLS network which has 50 presences in Asia. Connection to the cloud services is run on its private networks, which is different from other pay-per-use cloud services that run on the “public Internet”, he said.
Ho said the company chose Singapore to set up its cloud center as it views the city-state as the “gateway to Southeast Asia”, similar to how Hong Kong is its “gateway to China”. Many of its client base also has regional headquarters in Singapore, he added.
Most of CITIC Telecom CPC’s customers are multinational corporations (MNCs) based in the United States or Europe with regional headquarters in Asia but the company also has several Asia-based customers, said Ho.
With cloud servers based in China, these customers will be able to have back up within the region, he said. For example, a company with Taiwan-based operations can have its cloud service backed up by servers in Shanghai or Guangzhou, he said.
CITIC Telecom International CPC is part of CITIC Group which is a Beijing-headquartered state-owned Chinese investment company.
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