Internet Research Institute, Inc. and Asia Global Crossing Ltd. announced Thursday that they will set up a joint venture next month to operate a data center providing complex Web hosting services. The new company, GlobalCenter Japan Corp., will set up the 5,000-sq.-meter data center in Tokyo's Minato Ward and begin services in April. The new company will be capitalized at 6 billion yen, with IRI, which develops Internet technology, holding 11 percent and 89 percent held by Asia Global Crossing. Asia Global Crossing was set up last year by U.S.-based Global Crossing Ltd., Microsoft Co. and Softbank Corp. to promote global online services and lay undersea optical fiber cables in Asia and the Pacific. Asia Global Crossing CEO Jack Scanlon told a press conference that as e-commerce businesses are being strongly pushed in Japan, many firms are likely to place their servers at such Web hosting facilities, which are able to handle a large volume of data transmission at high speeds to reduce operating costs.
