Czech telecoms firm České Radiokomunikace (CRA) has been granted planning permission for a new data center outside Prague and has started construction work on the project.

The company this week said it had obtained a building permit to construct a data center in the Zbraslav – Jíloviště area of the capital.

Construction on the Prague Gateway DC has begun. The first 700-rack building is due to go live by the end of 2027.

“The demand for data center capacity is constantly growing. Companies need higher power consumption, the highest possible security, and the most sustainable operation possible. At Prague Gateway DC, we have combined these seemingly incompatible requirements, and construction has just begun,” said CRA CEO Miloš Mastník.

CRA first announced plans for a new data center near Zbraslav on the outskirts of Prague back in 2022 with a 2024 start date. After delays, the company last year said it was about to start ramping up the project.

The data center will be located on the land previously used for the dissemination of radio broadcasts from Prague-Zbraslav.

Sat on a 56,000 sqm (602,780 sq ft) plot, the two-story facility will offer 26MW across 2,000 racks and 4,000 sqm (43,055 sq ft). It will feature four meet-me rooms and two power feeds. It will aim to support up to 30kW per rack and offer its waste heat for reuse.

CRA has previously said the project will see 2 billion crowns ($89 million) invested.

The company said future phases of development could see the Prague Gateway DC data center become part of the EU’s AI Gigafactory project. CRA submitted the project as part of the Project AIGF CZ initiative bid.

Mastník noted, however, that Prague Gateway DC is being developed “regardless of its involvement in the AI Gigafactory project.”

Cordiant Digital Infrastructure – a fund created by Cordiant Capital and listed on the London Stock Exchange – bought CRA from Macquarie Asset Management in 2021 for an undisclosed price.

The company’s core data center, known as the DC Tower, operates under the Zizkov transmitter. The company has also repurposed smaller facilities in the Cukrák and Strahov areas of Prague, as well as in Ostrava, Brno, Zlín, Lužice, and Pardubice – all in the Czech Republic. The firm also has its own backbone fiber optic network.