Apple is the world’s most valuable company, and it’s used to getting its way. Yet here in rural Ireland, one man has managed to block its ambitions. Data centers aren’t sexy like iPhones, but as smartphone sales slow, they are now critical to Apple’s future, powering services like iTunes, the App Store, iMessage, and iPhoto. As lawmakers in Brussels clamp down on U.S. companies sending customer data across the Atlantic, the ability to store data in Europe is becoming essential. Without its own data centers, Apple would need to rely on companies like Amazon and Google — something it doesn’t like doing. [...]
Daly and some neighbors appealed the local authority’s decision to Ireland’s quasi-independent planning body, An Bord Pleanala, in September 2015. Once again, Daly laid out his objections: Apple’s environmental impact statement was insufficient and the company’s claims of using renewable energy were misleading. Again, the board rubber-stamped the permission. [...]
When Athenry was chosen over 25 competing sites for Apple’s Ireland data center, the news was widely hailed by most residents and local politicians as a huge boon for the area. Apple said it would build eight halls in 15 years, promising an investment of 850 million euros ($950 million). Last November, 2,000 people packed the streets of the town in a demonstration designed to show Apple that despite Daly’s legal challenge, the vast majority of locals were in favor of the planned data center. [...]
Ireland is an ideal location for data centers thanks to the temperate climate, which naturally cools the huge amount of heat generated by the servers housed in data centers. It will soon be the only English-speaking member of the EU. And, of course, its low corporate tax rate doesn’t hurt in attracting tech investment.
No comments:
Post a Comment