Next Generation Data is to invest up to £200m in Wales to create one of Europe's largest and most technically advanced "green" data-centres.

The announcement was made yesterday by Ieuan Wyn Jones, Minister for the Economy and Transport, who described it as a strategically important investment that would bring long term benefits to Wales and the Welsh economy.

The NGD Europe 1 data-centre will be based in the former Hynix semiconductor plant in Newport. It will be located near an electricity sub-station which will ensure that the facility has adequate power for the foreseeable future.

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Next Generation Data plan to sub-divide the building into a large number of data halls with dedicated infrastructure. An area will also be designated specifically for small and medium sized businesses in Wales.

The Minister described the investment as being a critically important addition to the IT and telecoms infrastructure in Wales.

"A data-centre of this size and capacity will not only support Welsh businesses to remain competitive in a global economy but also has the capacity to act as a catalyst in attracting new business.

"The new centre will be of particular interest to our growing financial services sector, offering business continuity while also providing our SMEs with cost effective access to high quality, robust and secure data-centre services."

(CD/JM)