Data Centers in Italy

Italy – Strategic Gateway to Southern Europe

Executive Summary

Italy is a premier European data center market, offering a mature and resilient ecosystem for businesses targeting the continent's fourth-largest economy. Its strategic Mediterranean location and rich subsea cable connectivity also make it a critical gateway for low-latency access to markets in North Africa and the Middle East. This combination of dense domestic connectivity and international reach allows enterprises to secure digital supply chains and deliver services reliably across multiple regions.

Italy: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

Italy’s digital infrastructure is one of the most developed in Southern Europe, defined by its carrier diversity and direct access to global networks.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality With over 40 unique network providers operating within its borders as of September 2025, Italy offers a competitive marketplace. Businesses can choose from a wide range of national and international carriers in carrier-neutral colocation facilities, primarily concentrated in Milan.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps There are over 7 dedicated cloud on-ramps in Italy, enabling high-performance, private connections to 20 distinct cloud regions as of September 2025. Major hyperscalers with a direct presence include:

• AWS
• Google Cloud (GCP)
• Microsoft Azure
• IBM Cloud
• Oracle Cloud

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) The primary IXPs are the Milan Internet eXchange (MIX) and NaMeX in Rome. These exchanges are crucial for keeping domestic traffic within Italy, which significantly reduces latency for end-users and lowers transit costs for businesses.

Bare Metal Bare metal server providers are readily available, offering dedicated compute resources for performance-sensitive applications. Global providers like Hivelocity and phoenixNAP operate in the Italian market, providing flexible deployment options.

Power Analysis

Average Cost Of Power Industrial power pricing is estimated between €0.23 and €0.28 per kWh as of September 2025. While in line with much of Western Europe, securing a favorable power purchase agreement is essential for managing long-term operational costs. Italy's grid is approximately 60% fossil fuels and 40% renewables.

Power Grid Reliability The national power grid is reliable, particularly in the northern industrial regions where most data centers are located. Major data center campuses are supported by redundant power feeds from separate substations, ensuring high levels of uptime.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Proximity To Key Business Districts Most data centers are clustered around Milan, Italy’s financial and manufacturing capital. This proximity provides low-latency connectivity for banking, high-fashion, and industrial sectors headquartered in the region. Rome serves as a secondary hub, supporting government and media industries.

Regional Market Reach Italy's geographic position makes it an ideal hub for serving not only its 60 million residents but also for reaching across the Mediterranean. Its numerous subsea cable landing stations provide a direct path to North Africa, the Middle East, and Asia, bypassing more congested European routes.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers The government encourages investment in sustainable technology through general subsidies. These incentives for deploying energy-efficient systems and making related green improvements help lower the total cost of ownership for modern data center builds.

Natural Disaster Risk

As of September 2025, Italy has an overall INFORM risk score of 3 out of 10, classifying it as a low-risk country for natural disasters and human conflict. However, specific geological and climate factors require careful site selection and infrastructure planning.

Key natural hazards include:

• Earthquake: This is the most significant national risk. Data centers must be built to modern seismic standards, especially in central and southern regions.
• Coastal & River Flood: Flood risk is a material concern in coastal zones and along major river basins like the Po Valley.
• Tsunami: A notable risk for facilities located directly on the Mediterranean coastline.
• Drought: A moderate concern, primarily impacting agriculture and hydroelectric power generation in certain years.