Google Buys €27 Mln Land In Finland For Data Centre Expansion

HELSINKI, Nov 29 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Google has acquired a €27 million (US$28.5 million) land parcel in Finland to expand its data centre operations, the Finnish government announced on Thursday

Metsahallitus, Finland's state forest property administrator, has been authorised to sell approximately 1,400 hectares of land near Kajaani, a northeastern town that serves as a key hub for data centre activities, reported Xinhua.

The government noted in its press release that land transactions of this size are rare in Finland.

Google has been operating data centres in Finland since 2011, with its campus in Hamina currently employing around 400 full-time staff, according to the release.

In Finland, Google built its first data centre in Hamina, a city located approximately 145 kilometres (km) east of the country's capital Helsinki, in 2009. In May this year, the US tech giant announced a new €1 billion investment to expand its Hamina campus, which is expected to create more jobs in the next two years, according to local media reports. 

-- BERNAMA-XINHUA