Phase I of the Arup and Mercury Engineering-designed Moscow 1 Data Centre is to complete in Q4 2012, a statement from IXcellerate read today. The first phase of this three-stage project concerns 1,000 sq m of a 6,200 sq m carrier neutral data centre on a 15,000 sq m campus just north of Moscow.

IXcellerate is a data center project founded by Guy Willner (Founder and former CEO of IXEurope), former President Europe for Equinix Inc.), and Cliff Gauntlett (Former SVP ofGolden Telecom).

Guy Willner said: "We are very pleased to be working with two world-class organisations in our project to deliver the first chapter in our project. Our aim for IXcellerate was to select the best of breed to ensure our data centre meets the requirements of our national and international customers. Both Arup and Mercury have a solid reputation and extensive experience in the Russian market."