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Dubai-based Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (Du) has signed a deal to build a AED2bn ($544m) hyperscale data centre in Dubai in partnership with US-headquartered Microsoft.
The US tech firm will be the data centre’s anchor or main tenant.
Dubai Crown Prince Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum witnessed the signing of the deal during the Dubai AI Week and announced it on social media on 22 April.
At Dubai AI Week, I witnessed an announcement from du to launch a groundbreaking AED 2 billion hyperscale data centre, in collaboration with Microsoft. This marks a significant investment in digital infrastructure, reinforcing Dubai’s leadership in adopting the latest… pic.twitter.com/aQSWPSvstN
— Hamdan bin Mohammed (@HamdanMohammed) April 22, 2025
He said the announcement reinforces “Dubai’s leadership in adopting the latest technologies, innovations and digital services”.
Hyperscale data centres are large, often distributed facilities designed for large-scale workloads. They typically comprise thousands of servers and miles of connection equipment to foster high redundancy.
The Du and Microsoft hyperscale data centre will be built and operated at a cost of around AED2bn.
MEED understands that the data centre’s capacity will be delivered in tranches.
Du operates five data centres across the UAE, including three in Dubai and two in Abu Dhabi.
According to MEED Projects data, as of April, an estimated $12bn-worth of data centre construction projects across the GCC are in the planning stage, in addition to over $820m under bid and $7bn under construction.
