Credit: Equinix
Equinix will open a new purpose-built data centre during the first half of 2021 in Singapore, backed by an initial investment of US$144 million in response to heightened demand for cloud connectivity services.
Representing the vendor’s fifth International Business Exchange (IBX) launch in the city-state, the facility - named SG5 - will provide an initial capacity of more than 1300 cabinets during the first phase, spanning approximately 18,400 square feet of colocation space.
At full capacity, the nine-story data centre - located at the Tanjong Kling data centre park - is expected to provide roughly 5000 cabinets with a total colocation space of close to 129,000 square feet.
The move is designed to strengthen Equinix’s cross-island presence and location diversity, with four of the vendor’s current IBX data centres “strategically spread” across the country.
“As the global economy and the Asia Pacific region continue to grow, we see a strong demand for digital infrastructure to support business growth,” said Jeremy Deutsch, president of Asia Pacific at Equinix. “This is especially evident in Singapore, which is proving to be a key hub for digital business in the region.
“Traditional infrastructure is struggling to keep up with this digital demand, leading enterprises to explore hybrid and multi-cloud options to further their transformation. The SG5 IBX data centre aims to create more opportunities for enterprises in the region to build a strong digital foundation, enabling them to develop into the digital leaders of tomorrow.”
SG5 will be directly connected to the four existing Equinix IBX data centres in Singapore via low-latency dark fibre links, allowing customers to interconnect with more than 705 companies in the market. Customers will also be able to choose network services from over 200 providers while interconnecting directly to customers and partners via a digital supply chain.
The commitment builds on an initial investment of $85.3 million into the creation of SG4 IBX, which opened earlier this year.
“Singapore continues to thrive as a regional digital hub despite current pandemic and economic challenges,” added Yee May Leong, managing director of South Asia at Equinix. “Today’s businesses demand a solid digital infrastructure to grow and scale, leveraging vital ecosystems and cloud services via Platform Equinix.
“We are catering to the needs and demands of our customers by expanding our local footprint to enable regional and global growth as Singapore continues its Smart Nation journey and enterprises pursue digital transformation.”
In Asia Pacific, Equinix currently has 46 IBX data centres in key metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Japan and Singapore, alongside plans to build new facilities in Osaka, Japan and Perth, Australia.
“Digital infrastructure is key to success and competitive advantage for enterprises in the next normal,” said Sandra Ng, group vice president of Practice Group across Asia Pacific at IDC. “IDC’s CEO research in early 2020 showed that the leading priority among CEOs in Asia-Pacific is building a digital IT infrastructure that supports resilient operations and pervasive experiences.
“Equinix's investment in Singapore will further strengthen the country’s digital infrastructure to support its Smart Nation journey as well as enterprise digitalisation and resiliency.”
