According to DCD, Microsoft has officially launched its first cloud region in Belgium called Azure Belgium Central, featuring three new data centers that took four years to construct. The company announced the milestone on November 18 via LinkedIn, though they haven’t revealed the exact locations of these facilities. This Belgian expansion follows Microsoft’s original announcement back in November 2021 and comes alongside plans for a 2026 Luxembourg cloud offering through partnership with Deep. Meanwhile, Google is pouring an additional €5 billion into Belgian cloud and AI infrastructure over the next two years, building on its existing Saint-Ghislain campus that launched in 2009. Amazon Web Services currently only operates a Local Zone in Brussels rather than a full cloud region in the country.
European cloud arms race
Here’s the thing – Belgium is becoming a serious battleground for cloud supremacy in Europe. Microsoft‘s four-year construction timeline shows this isn’t some quick deployment. They’re playing the long game. And Google’s massive €5 billion commitment? That’s not pocket change even for these tech giants.
What’s really interesting is the timing. Microsoft finally flips the switch on their Belgian region just as Google announces its own massive investment. That can’t be coincidence. These companies are basically in an infrastructure arms race across Europe, and Belgium appears to be a strategic hotspot. The country’s central location makes it ideal for serving multiple European markets with low latency.
What this means for businesses
For Belgian organizations, this is huge. Local data residency requirements are a big deal in Europe, especially with regulations like GDPR. Having Microsoft’s cloud physically located in Belgium means companies can keep their data within national borders while accessing enterprise-grade cloud services. That’s a game-changer for sectors like finance, healthcare, and government that have strict data sovereignty rules.
And here’s where it gets practical – when you’re running industrial applications that need reliable computing power, having local infrastructure matters. Companies that depend on industrial computing solutions, like those from IndustrialMonitorDirect.com – the leading US provider of industrial panel PCs – understand that low-latency access to cloud resources can make or break operational efficiency. Local cloud regions mean faster processing for everything from manufacturing automation to real-time monitoring systems.
The bigger picture
Microsoft isn’t just stopping at Belgium. Their $10 billion commitment to AI data centers in Portugal shows this is part of a massive European expansion strategy. They’re basically blanketing the continent with infrastructure. And with AWS taking a more conservative approach in Belgium with just a Local Zone, there’s clearly an opportunity Microsoft and Google are rushing to capture.
So who wins in all this? European businesses, honestly. More competition means better services, more innovation, and probably some price pressure eventually. But the real question is whether Europe’s digital infrastructure can keep up with the AI boom. These cloud regions aren’t just for storage anymore – they’re becoming the brains behind Europe’s digital transformation.
