Google is said to be in talks with Australian data center operators to establish a local Google data center presence.
Google data centers are much sort after in US States, delivering local jobs and related benefits, although the size of the Australian data center is unknown at this stage.
AustralianIT notes that the driving force behind a move might be the reluctance of local business to sign up to Google products due to data charges. Australian businesses pay more wholesale to access Google services than from local providers due to the intercharge fees over the trans-Pacific pipes, where as locally supplied services can often be provided for free, even at the retail level where local node or ISP hosted data often doesn’t count towards caps and charges.
Google currently has its main Australian office in Sydney, and smaller office in the Realto Tower in Melbourne. Notably Google has acquired a number of Australian companies, including Where2, which was the foundation for Google Maps, search engine Orion, and Tonic Systems.
