London, February 25 2008 As power costs continue to bite, and data centres focus increasingly on energy reduction processes and technologies, and legislative compliance, the emergence of players around the perimeter of Europe is beginning to present new competitive threats and market opportunities. Research conducted internally by consulting company BroadGroup, suggests that greater competition for near-shoring will emerge over the next few years from the southern Mediterranean and North Africa, locations in eastern Europe/Baltics and the Nordics/Iceland.