Since 2006, LuxConnect has been a private company specialising in installing fibre optics and operating data centres. The company manages four data centres in Bettembourg and Bissen, and a network of 1,800 kilometres of optical fibre.
According to Paul Konsbruck, Luxembourg is “already a leader” in many areas and must maintain this status. He emphasised the high quality of the Grand Duchy’s data centres, noting that Luxembourg hosts about a quarter of Europe’s highest category data centres. Additionally, the country ranks highly for fibre optic connectivity. However, the sector remains highly competitive, and with emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, Luxembourg must continue investing to stay at the cutting edge and prepare for new challenges, Konsbruck said.
LuxConnect also houses Luxembourg’s MeluXina supercomputer, inaugurated three years ago. The supercomputer has already utilised 70% of its capacity, indicating significant activity, Konsbruck explained. With a lifespan of five years, it will eventually become less productive or be surpassed by more efficient and environmentally friendly technologies, necessitating replacement. Konsbruck stressed the importance of preparing for this transition in advance. What’s more, with the rising demands of artificial intelligence, enhanced capabilities will be essential. Konsbruck highlighted that having the next generation of supercomputers in Luxembourg would be a significant advantage.
Luxembourg is also home to “Project Clarence.” Paul Konsbruck explained that the project focuses on data sovereignty, ensuring that data remains in Europe, specifically Luxembourg, while also emphasising security. Founded in collaboration with Proximus, the project will offer a cloud solution entirely based on Google technology. This means LuxConnect will provide the full range of services available in Google’s cloud. However, the data will not be sent to Google; it will be stored in data centres in Bissen and Bettembourg. Once the data is there, it will be disconnected from Google and managed by LuxConnect in collaboration with Proximus. The platform will be ready on 1 July and fully operational by November, marking a first in Europe.
Operating such technology requires significant electricity consumption, which is expected to rise further with the development of artificial intelligence. LuxConnect addresses this by exclusively purchasing green electricity and offsetting its CO2 emissions. The electricity is bought two to three years in advance, providing customers with greater price stability.
LuxConnect already has a presence in Bissen, where Google has shown interest in setting up a data centre. According to Konsbruck, this would represent “added value” rather than competition, as Google is building for its own needs. He believes that Google’s presence would attract other players to Luxembourg.
