Microsoft sets out to build $250M data center in Finland
As the tech giant announces its acquisition of Nokia's devices unit, Microsoft also agrees to build a European data center in the phone maker's homeland.
Microsoft announced big news for itself on Tuesday. Not only is it acquiring Finnish phone maker Nokia's device and services division, but as part of the deal it's also building a massive global data center in Finland.
According to Microsoft, the company is investing more than $250 million in capital and operation of the data center, which is intended to serve the company's European customers.
Microsoft has another European data center in Ireland and is also expanding in other regions around the world such as Australia and Southeast Asia, according to Data Center Knowledge.
Along with acquiring Nokia's devices unit for $7.2 billion, Microsoft also said on Tuesday that it was eyeing Nokia CEO Stephen Elop as a possible successor to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Ballmer recently announced that he would be stepping down within the next 12 months. Before joining Nokia, Elop led Microsoft's Microsoft Office division for years.
Microsoft isn't the first US tech company to plant a data center in the Nordic region. Google already has a data center in Finland and Facebook has a massive facility in nearby Sweden.