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Equinix to build data centre in Salalah, Oman

Work is underway to establish a new subsea cable interconnection hub linking Asia, Africa and Europe in partnership with Omantel

by Divsha Bhat

March 31, 2022

Equinix, the digital infrastructure company, has announced plans to build a data centre in Salalah, Oman.

The data centre is being built in cooperation with Omantel, the regional wholesale carrier of the Middle East. It will be commercially and operationally managed in full by Equinix as a carrier-neutral and open access Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre.

The new site, named SN1, will be the second carrier-neutral data centre built in Oman after MC1 in Muscat and will be the company’s fifth data centre in the region, alongside strategic sites in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Once open, SN1 will become a key interconnectivity point for traffic flows between Asia, Europe, and Africa.

“We are seizing on this fantastic opportunity to invest in Salalah by building a world-class data centre that will undoubtedly change the landscape of global traffic flows between three major continents,” said Kamel Al-Tawil, managing director of Equinix Middle East and North Africa.

By shortening the length and route of many vital cables in the region, the SN1 site will change the landscape of global traffic flows by creating a more cost-effective route to connect businesses to the Middle East, a statement said.

The new site will also offer direct fibre links to MC1.

“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,” Talal Al Mamari, chief executive officer of Omantel stated.

Meanwhile, in December 2021, the company announced it had been selected by SUB.CO for the hosting of the 9,800-kilometre Oman-Australia Cable (OAC) into its IBX data centres in Perth, Australia and Muscat, Oman.

Additionally, in 2021, Equinix opened similar cable landing sites in Genoa and Bordeaux and announced the opening of significant subsea connections with EllaLink in Portugal and Brazil.

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