Google Tainan data center plan still under assessment: Taiwan GM

Taipei, March 17 (CNA) U.S.-based tech giant Google is still evaluating market demand and adjusting its plan to build a new data center in Tainan, Google Taiwan General Manager Lin Ya-fang (林雅芳) told CNA Sunday.

Lin made the remarks after the company was questioned last year by city councilors as to why it had not begun construction of the facility after it revealed its plan to construct the center more than four years ago.

Lin did not give any more details on the Tainan plan but emphasized that Google was continuing to invest in its data center in Changhua County, its first in Taiwan.

She also said that the level of data handled by the center and its service scope has increased five-fold compared to when it opened in 2013, making it Google's largest data center in Asia.

Google has not stopped expanding its portfolio of data centers in the continent. Its first Japan center was opened in Inzai City, Chiba Prefecture, in March last year.

However, in 2011, the company announced it would purchase land to build a data center in Hong Kong, but it ran into trouble with obtaining the land and gave up its plan in 2013.

Lin added that in addition to building data centers, Google is continuing to ramp up its investment in Taiwan in other ways.

Its second office building in Banqiao District, New Taipei is expected to open in the second quarter of this year, following the unveiling of its new office complex in the Taipei Far Eastern Telecom Park (Tpark) in 2021.

The capacity of the second building is more than twice that of the company's first office and will bring together talent from Google's other locations, Lin said.

She added that Google's engineering laboratories in Taiwan are in short supply and that the new office building will house different types of labs to help boost research and development.

Some employees in the hardware department are still working in a range of locations across Taipei, New Taipei, Taoyuan, and Hsinchu, but the new office means they will all share the same hub, which will help improve coordination and efficiency, according to Lin.

The 16-floor office complex in Tpark is Google's first and largest hardware development base outside the United States and features a gym, massage room, rest area, and health center for employees.