Iliad's Scaleway Expands to Italy, Seeks to Rival US Cloud Giants in Europe

Scaleway Expands Cloud Presence in Italy to Challenge US Providers

Scaleway's Strategic Expansion in the European Cloud Market

By Elvira Pollina and Gianluca Lo Nostro

Scaleway Announces New Milan Cloud Region

MILAN/PARIS, March 19 (Reuters) - Scaleway, a cloud service provider owned by France's Iliad, will open a new cloud region in Milan and is planning a further European expansion, as it seeks to compete with U.S. technology giants dominating the European market, it said on Thursday.

European Cloud Market Landscape

Dependence on US Hyperscalers

Europe lacks large homegrown cloud computing companies, known as hyperscalers, and rising tensions ranging from foreign policy to regulations have fuelled calls within the European Union to reduce reliance on U.S. hyperscalers.

Market Share of Leading Providers

Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud control around 70% of the EU cloud market, according to a study published by the European Parliament in December.

Scaleway's Growth Plans and Competitive Edge

Existing and Planned Cloud Regions

Scaleway, which already operates cloud regions in France, Poland and the Netherlands, hopes to win over clients seeking a Europe-based alternative that fully complies with local regulations. It also plans to add soon two more cloud regions, in Sweden and Germany, with the locations yet to be chosen.

CEO's Perspective on European Digital Sovereignty

"Europe cannot rely entirely on foreign hyperscalers to power its digital economy," CEO Damien Lucas said in a statement.

The Importance of Milan as a Cloud Hub

Role of Cloud Regions

Cloud regions are locations where providers house the infrastructure that supports applications and stores customer data. Milan, with its abundant infrastructure and role as a hub for global corporations, has become a preferred location for power-hungry artificial intelligence data centres in Europe.

Challenges and Investments

Scaleway's Competitive Position

While Scaleway's product catalogue broadly matches what larger competitors offer, its scale remains smaller, and achieving the expansion needed to close that gap requires heavy capital spending.

Iliad's Investment in AI Infrastructure

Financial Commitment

Iliad disclosed plans last year to invest 3 billion euros ($3.45 billion) in artificial intelligence infrastructure.

($1 = 0.8688 euros)

(Reporting by Elvira Pollina, Gianluca Lo Nostro; Additional reporting by Leo Marchandon; Editing by Andrei Khalip)