US-based Equinix, the world’s digital infrastructure company, will collaborate with Omantel, a leading wholesale carrier in the Middle East to build a new data center in the city of Salalah, Oman.
The new fracture is expected to be entirely commercially and operationally managed by Equinix as a carrier-neutral and open access Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX) data center.
The new site, named SN1, demonstrates Equinix’s commitment to Oman and the Middle East. SN 1 will be the second carrier-neutral data center to be built in Oman after MC1 in Muscat, Equinix’s fifth in the region, along with Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Once operational, SN1 will become a major interconnection point for traffic between Asia, Europe, and Africa.
Kamel Al-Tawil MD – MENA Equinix
“We are seizing on this fantastic opportunity to invest in Salalah by building a world-class data center that will undoubtedly change the landscape of global traffic flows between three major continents. With access to several new and existing submarine cables, this major new interconnectivity point continues Equinix’s strategy of developing network-dense and interconnectivity-rich ecosystems.”
The new SN1 site in Salalah will change the landscape of global traffic flows by reducing the length and route of the most strategic and important cables in the region, creating a more cost-effective route to connect businesses to the Middle East. The new site will also offer direct fiber links to Equinix’s MC1 in Muscat, the first carrier-neutral hub in the Middle East, and enable carriers, content providers, and cloud providers to co-locate critical IT infrastructure in the region.
Commenting on their partnership with Equinix, Mr. Talal Al Mamari, Chief Executive Officer of Omantel remarked that. “We are delighted to extend our successful partnership with Equinix establishing this new international subsea cable hub in Salalah, which is strategically located in the south of Oman, on the coast of the Arabian Sea”.
“Salalah is the rising star of the Middle East for Asia to Europe and Africa subsea cable systems passing the region and is quickly establishing itself as the new main regional strategic interconnection point. Salalah will be the hub for a connectivity ecosystem much needed to meet an ever-increasing demand for onwards connectivity to the Middle East and Africa”. Mr. Al Mamari concluded.
The SN1 facility is the latest subsea landing site in a range of strategic subsidiary deposits for Equinix. In December 2021, the company announced that SUB.CO had chosen to host 9,800 km of Oman-Australia cable (OAC) to the International Business Exchange data centers in Perth, Australia, and Muscat, Oman.
In addition, in 2021, Equinix opened similar cable landing sites in Genoa and Bordeaux, and substantial subsea connections with EllaLink in Portugal and Brazil.
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