Equinix has revealed plans for a new data center in Oman, the Middle East.
The global interconnection and data center giant will be partnering with Oman Telecommunications Company (Omantel) in a joint venture to provide services to customers in the Middle East via the new data center that will be located in Barka, near Oman's capital Muscat.
The terms of the agreement stipulate that will each hold a 50 percent share of the joint venture with fund equity contributions of US$10 million apiece and additional funds being raised through debt financing assumed by the joint venture company.
In terms of the technical bits, Equinix will operate the IBX data center that will include 18,600 square feet of colocation space made up of approximately 750 cabinets. The project will be broken down into three phases with the first phase to include 250 cabinets with an expected completion date of Q2 2019.
"We see significant potential for Oman as a market generally and, in particular, supporting CLS requirements as subsea cable momentum accelerates,” says Equinix EMEA president Eric Schwartz.
“It's all about meeting the growing need for interconnection – private data exchange between businesses.
Equinix asserts the partnership will deliver the first ‘world-class' carrier neutral hub in Oman where carriers, content providers, and cloud providers colocate critical IT infrastructure.
The end goal is to provide ultra-low latencies between global business markets with Oman being the regional interconnection hub as it's positioned in a handy location between Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Customers in the GCC and MENA regions can also utilise other Equinix data centers in the region for dual access to content providers and cloud providers based on demand and requirements.
“In the digital age, companies need to reach everywhere, interconnect everyone and integrate everything, and they need to do it out at the digital edge, where commerce, population centers and digital ecosystems meet. Our joint venture with Omantel will do exactly that,” says Schwartz.
The new IBX data center will be connected to strategic cable landing stations and subsea cable systems that terminate directly inside the facility. Omantel is also investing in several subsea cable systems around the world in an effort to boost performance and security.
"We are excited to work with Equinix on this project and accelerate how users experience cloud, content and next-gen communications. Today, data center infrastructure sits at the heart of global ICT and enables all of us to enjoy the cloud-based apps and services we use every day,” says Omantel CEO Talal Al Mamari.
“The planned IBX data center with Equinix in Oman represents a massive step forward for Oman and the Middle Eastern ICT markets. Working on this project will allow both companies to bring together their strong assets and enable a new era of telecommunications both locally and globally. Such partnership will further enhance Oman's competitiveness in the global digital economy and trade."