The first phase of the Guam Exchange will be operational by June, offering not only a Tier III Data Center in Guam, but further reinforcing the island’s role and strategic location as a hub for fiber optic subsea cables.
The initial phase will occupy 8,000 square feet of the ITE property in Harmon and is a stand-alone business.
BeighleyL. James Beighley, CEO of Citadel Pacific Ltd.; said, “The Guam Exchange is an independent company; it’s 100% owned by Citadel.” Citadel is investing “in excess of $20 million” in the first phase of the Guam Exchange.
The data center will offer other attributes, he said. “It’s important for data centers to be open access and carrier neutral.”
Due to geopolitical developments, cable companies are now looking to route subsea fiber optic networks through Guam — a U.S. territory, rather than through Hong Kong and South China Sea locations.
Beighley said Guam’s importance becomes increased. “It becomes a critical data communications hub.”
Guam Exchange infrastructure is already underway, he said. “We have been building it for over a year.”
The data center will bring investment to the island from “international companies that have a need for their global networks,” Beighley said. “Today the data center market is largely to serve local needs.” In addition, he said, “The Guam Exchange will serve commercial needs and federal government needs.”
He said the data center will offer in the magnitude of tens of thousands of times of capacity compared to what the Guam market needs today.
As the Journal previously reported, Google announced Jan. 18 its plans for a Central Pacific Connect initiative, which introduces two new intra-Pacific cables from Guam to Fiji and French Polynesia. The inclusion of pre-positioned branching units promises enhanced reliability and resilience for other Oceania nations. Beighley said, “You’re now talking about 14 Pacific Island nations that are going to be able to connect through Guam.”
According to the Guam Exchange, Google has other regional plans, and more companies plan subsea cable investments connecting through Guam, led by Google and Meta.
“The Echo, Bifrost and Apricot cables are the first in a series of new cable projects interconnecting Guam. Google has already filed their FCC application of the TPU system tying Taiwan, the Philippines and mainland US to Guam. … When viewed in its entirety, this new subsea cable architecture will … link the island directly to nation states of Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Singapore, Australia and mainland USA.”
Beighley said for such companies, “Guam becomes a place where you can make it part of your network. You can basically house an edge node into Guam.” Edge nodes offer communication points and physical locations and would attract companies that want to put network equipment in Guam.
The rational for Guam is a faster pathway with very low latency, Beighley said.
While the initial investment is in Guam, Beighley said, “Our view is this is a regional opportunity we see extending to the CNMI.”
The Guam Exchange will build its data capacity, he said.
“Today the data center is about one and a half megawatts of data center capacity. We will scale that up to six megawatts of capacity
over time.”
Data centers consume huge amounts of electricity. Beighley said, “The single largest operating cost of a data center is power.” The cost of the utility is something he sees could be reduced as a business stimulus. “The more we can lower the cost of power on Guam the more data center activity we can attract.” While connection to the GPA grid will ensure power, Beighley does not rule out alternative energy solutions, especially as the data center needs multiple systems of redundancy.
Guam cable connectivity map from telegeography.com
“In our future phases, we definitely see more dedicated renewable power and green power dedicated to support that.”
James I. Oehlerking’s appointment as chief technology officer for Citadel’s data centers has already been announced. What the Guam Exchange will also offer is additional jobs to network engineers, cable engineers and data center technicians. “It’s a big opportunity for the University of Guam and Guam Community College now this infrastructure is actually coming,” Beighley said. “We’ve got a decade of infrastructure growth ahead of us.”
The Government of Guam is understandably looking forward to the growth of Guam’s hub, but Beighley said it can also assist with practical help, to include facilitating cable landing.
“The local government needs to support this with streamlining the permitting process,” he said.
Overall, the combined entry of fiber optic subsea cables and the increase of data capacity offers clients a better experience as their needs grow.
“The average data usage of a consumer grows at 20% to 30% a year,” Beighley said. With the increased infrastructure and multiple pathways, he said “It makes their data connection more reliable. … Users on Guam will be able to access the front end of Google here on Guam.” The Guam Exchange is complementary to that, he said. “As the Guam Exchange comes online people will be able to access critical networks locally.” mbj
