By Kenny Chee

THE data-centre business in Singapore appears to confirm analysts' forecasts that it could grow by as much as 13 per cent this year.

The latest to join the business is Jurong Data Centre at the International Business Park in Jurong East.

The $215 million facility was developed by Jurong Data Centre Development, a wholly- owned subsidiary of Singapore- based real-estate firm, Japan Land.

Another $80 million could be pumped in for additional works like installing substations and generators.

SingTel will also be officially launching a new 150,000 sq ft data centre early this year called Kim Chuan Telecommunications Centre 2.

This will bring the telco's total data-centre space to over 500,000 sq ft, which, according to market-research firm Frost and Sullivan, is almost half of Singapore"s total data-centre space.

Analysts have predicted that the data-centre services business here in Singapore and the Asia-Pacific will grow rapidly.

Frost and Sullivan expects the region"s market to grow at acompound annual rate of 14.6 per cent between 2009 and 2011, with revenues exceeding nearly US$10.7 billion (S$15 billion) during the period.

The firm said in a report this month that the revenue from Singapore"s data-centre services market alone this year could grow by about 12.8 per cent from last year to hit US$231.1 million.

A 2008 report by market-research firm IDC estimated that the market here will grow at an annual compound rate of 7 per cent between 2007 and 2011, to reach US$326 million, said Japan Land.

These forecasts mirror an Asia-Pacific trend. Frost and Sullivan industry analyst Wu Chengyu said that data-centre hosting services are a huge and growing business, "one that has remained largely insulated from the recession".

Ms Wu said that Singapore has attracted regional data centres as the country offers "superior infrastructure, including excellent high-speed broadband connectivity, reliable power supply, and excellent air and road facilities".

"Singapore will continue to remain as the regional destination for data-centre services due to the strong business growth and state-of-the-art infrastructure that are expected to be the primary drivers of demand during the forecast period," she said.

Meanwhile, the Jurong Data Centre will cover 200,000 sq ft, more than SingTel's single largest data centre, Kim Chuan Telecommunications Centre 1, that covers about 160,000 sq ft.

Construction of Jurong Data Centre began in August 2008 and was completed last month. The additional installations at the centre will commence as and when customers rent data space.

Companies can rent space at Jurong Data Centre to house their computer systems and servers, as well as other related information- technology equipment.

An 85 per cent stake in Jurong Data Centre is currently being sold to Connected Planet Holding, a subsidiary of Singapore- based private global investment firm Elchemi.

The remaining 15 per cent stake will be held by Japan Land. Jurong Data Centre is Japan Land's second foray into the data-centre business, with its first centre in Tokyo that was completed in 2008 at a cost of US$180 million.