Singapore-based 1-Net is building a new data center it claims will be Singapore’s first Tier III designed and constructed facility certified by the Uptime Institute.

Called 1-Net North, the data center will be completed by the last quarter of 2015.

1-Net is also hoping to grow its footprint outside of Singapore, looking at other South East Asia opportunities.

1-Net managing director Wong Ka Vin said he was considering a number of countries as potential data center locations.

Indonesia, the fourth most populous country in the world, could be suitable given recent regulations that require financial data to be kept within the country, according to Wong.

But Wong said the country still has challenges around its inadequate power grid, however, providers can build in an alternative source of reliable power.

Overseas bandwidth can also be expensive, but this said the cost has come down relative to “4 or 5 years ago” he said.

Wong also put the spotlight on the Philippines, a country in the region that is not traditionally associated with new data centers.

Wong said the Philippines has potential being one of the largest hubs for call and marketing centers, and outsourced digital content creation.

He said, however, that new data center operators would first have to forge a partnership with the two local carriers that currently dominate the market in the country.

And for all the recent political troubles in Thailand, Wong said it does have a mature and technically sound economy. He said he would be “foolish” not to pay any attention to Thailand.

Importantly, the country is strategically positioned as the gateway into Indochina, a peninsula that encompasses developing countries such as Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar.

However, Wong took pains to stress that the condition precedent on being able to tap into this potential is for the existing telecom regulatory standards in Thailand to be evolved further by the government, with a focus on growth rather than the protection of their internal interests.