center3: ksa northern 1

KSA Northern 1 is a modern hyperscale data centre operated by center3, a subsidiary of stc Group, located in the northern region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As part of center3’s national mission to position Saudi Arabia as the digital hub of the Middle East, Northern 1 plays a vital role in connecting hyperscalers, enterprises, and international networks through secure, high-performance infrastructure.

Strategically situated to serve both domestic and cross-border connectivity routes, Northern 1 supports Vision 2030initiatives by enabling cloud transformation, AI expansion, and digital innovation across the region. It complements center3’s growing portfolio of data centres, submarine cables, and international points of presence, establishing a robust backbone for the kingdom’s digital economy.

⚙️ Facility Highlights

• Built to Tier III+ standards, ensuring concurrent maintainability and high operational resilience.
• Part of center3’s nationwide expansion strategy targeting 1 GW (1,000 MW) of total data-centre capacity by 2030, positioning Saudi Arabia as a global-scale digital infrastructure hub.
• Designed for hyperscale and enterprise deployments, with modular white space and high-density power configurations.
• Integrates energy-efficient systems and sustainable infrastructure aligned with Saudi Arabia’s environmental goals and renewable-energy initiatives.
• Operates as part of a carrier-neutral ecosystem, offering flexibility for customers requiring scalable, interconnected capacity in the northern region.

🔐 Security & Compliance

• 24×7 onsite security presence with multi-layer access control, biometric authentication, and full CCTV coverage.
• Designed in accordance with ISO 27001 (Information Security), ISO 50001 (Energy Management), and ISO 14001 (Environmental Management) standards.
• Complies fully with Saudi National Cybersecurity Authority and CITC regulatory requirements for critical digital infrastructure.
• N+N or N+1 redundancy on power and cooling systems to support >99.999 % uptime SLAs.
• Aligns with stc Group’s corporate governance and operational excellence framework for high-availability environments.

🌐 Connectivity & Carrier Access

• Carrier-neutral facility linked to center3’s national fibre backbone and international network gateways.
• Provides direct access to submarine-cable landing points and inter-data-centre routes connecting Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and other regional sites.
• Supports cloud on-ramps, IP transit, peering, and dark-fibre connectivity for domestic and global carriers.
• Low-latency network paths to Europe, Africa, and Asia, strengthening Saudi Arabia’s position as a global interconnection hub.
• Interconnected with other center3 sites to enable geo-redundancy and multi-site replication for hyperscale and enterprise users.

💼 Who It Serves

• Hyperscale cloud providers expanding into Saudi Arabia and the broader MENA region.
• Enterprises and financial institutions requiring secure, compliant, and locally hosted infrastructure.
• Telecommunications and network carriers seeking scalable colocation and interconnect capabilities in northern Saudi Arabia.
• AI, HPC, and data-analytics platforms demanding high-density compute environments with strong regional connectivity.
• Government and public-sector organisations aligned with Vision 2030’s digital-transformation initiatives.