Digital Realty announced plans to enter the Milan market with the acquisition of two land parcels in Abbiategrasso, marking a significant expansion of its Mediterranean data center footprint. The development positions the company to establish a dual-city presence in both Milan and Rome, strengthening its role in Italy’s digital infrastructure landscape and supporting growing demand for cloud and AI services.
The Milan campus will be located along a key southwest subsea and terrestrial connectivity corridor linking Milan to Genoa and Savona, with access to dense regional fiber routes. Digital Realty said the site will support the development of a new interconnection and content ecosystem, benefiting from proximity to existing hyperscale regions. The project will launch with an initial 8 MW facility focused on retail colocation and interconnection services, with the first phase targeted for completion in 2028. Longer-term plans call for expansion up to 84 MW to accommodate increasing workloads driven by AI, cloud, and enterprise applications.
This move complements Digital Realty’s ongoing development in Rome, where its ROM1 facility is expected to become operational in early 2027. Together, the Milan and Rome sites position the company as a major infrastructure provider across Italy’s two primary connectivity hubs. The expansion also integrates Milan into Digital Realty’s broader Southern European network, linking key markets including Athens, Marseille, Sofia, and Barcelona, and reinforcing the region’s role as a strategic interconnection point between Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
- Acquired two land parcels in Abbiategrasso, southwest of Milan, approximately 1 km apart
- Initial deployment includes an 8 MW facility, with expansion potential up to 84 MW
- First phase targeted for readiness in 2028, focused on colocation and interconnection
- Site located along key subsea and terrestrial fiber routes linking Milan to Genoa and Savona
- Designed to support AI, cloud, and enterprise workloads with scalable infrastructure
- Complements Rome (ROM1) facility, expected online in early 2027
- Establishes Digital Realty presence in Italy’s two primary connectivity hubs
“We’re excited to enter Milan, Italy’s business capital with a dynamic tech ecosystem,” said Paula Cogan, Managing Director, EMEA, Digital Realty. “By expanding into Milan, we are providing much-needed infrastructure to support the city’s growth as a digital hub, fostering new content, interconnection, and cloud communities while assuring long-term capacity for AI and hyperscale deployments.”
🌐 Analysis: Digital Realty’s Milan expansion aligns with a broader shift toward Southern Europe as a key interconnection corridor, driven by new subsea cable landings and increasing AI infrastructure demand closer to end users. Competitors including Equinix, Data4, and regional operators have also expanded in Italy and surrounding markets, reflecting growing hyperscaler interest in diversifying capacity beyond traditional hubs like Frankfurt, London, and Amsterdam.
