China Mobile and Baidu have agreed to jointly build a large-scale cloud-based data center in Beijing, as part of their collaboration on mobile internet.
In a joint statement released earlier this month, China Mobile and Baidu said they will jointly invest and construct the phase one of Baidu’s new search data center in Yizhuang, located in a suburban area in Beijing. But the companies didn’t disclose the breakdown of the funding.
The Baidu Yizhuang search data center (Phase 1) will have a total construction area of 38,000 square meters and deploy over 40,000 servers.
The center is scheduled for operation in early 2016, by then China Mobile will provide Baidu with 1,388 high-performance and high-density cabinets.
The new data center will help China Mobile increase the efficiency of big data processing and provide faster mobile internet services for its customers, China Mobile said.
"This partnership marks the beginning of the collaboration on mobile internet [between China Mobile and Baidu], and we will work together to provide users with richer, diverse and innovative internet applications over faster wireless networks and more stable and advanced communications infrastructures,” China Mobile chairman Xi Guohua said at the signing ceremony.
“With the rapid development of 4G, both companies are seeking to have a comprehensive and deeper cooperation in other areas such as broadband network, big data, and cloud computing."
Apart from the Baidu Yizhuang data center, China Mobile also operates its own cloud computing facilities in Beijing and Guangzhou, which have recently been put into operation. The Chinese mobile giant is also planning to build three more cloud facilities in Harbin, Guanzhou and Shuzhou this year.
Last month, China Mobile, the world’s largest mobile carrier with over 800 million subscribers, announced the launch of a test lab for OPNFV, as the mobile giant steps up its efforts in NFV.