Island ready for £10m data centre

About 28,000 servers will be based at the new data centre

A £10m data centre to open near Ronaldsway airport is a huge boost for the Isle of Man's e-business industry, the government has said.

About 28,000 servers will be hosted at the site at Ballasalla Freeport, making it the largest facility of its kind on the island.

Owner Netcetera said its centre would offer a comprehensive range of internet services to Manx companies.

It is the Douglas-based web hosting firm's first data centre on the island.

Tim Craine, Director of E-Business with the Isle of Man government, said the centre was further evidence of the significant investment being made in the island's hosting infrastructure.

"With the continuing growth in the Island's e-gaming and broader e-business industries, there is significant demand for world-class infrastructure," he added.

The data centre is due to open in September. Netcetera employs 14 people on the island and is set to create a further 12 jobs in 2006.