Work ongoing to establish a major new subsea cable interconnection hub linking Asia, Africa and Europe in partnership with Omantel
SALALAH, Oman. – March 31, 2022 – Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world’s digital infrastructure company™, has today announced plans to build a brand new data center in the city of Salalah, which is located on the south coast of the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East. The data center is being built in cooperation with Omantel, the regional leading wholesale carrier of the Middle East, and 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, demonstrates Equinix’s commitment to Oman and the Middle East region. SN1 will be the second carrier neutral data center to be built in Oman after MC1 in Muscat and will be Equinix’s fifth data center 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 center 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. “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.” He added.
By shortening the length and route of many highly strategic and important cables in the region, the new SN1 site in Salalah will change the landscape of global traffic flows by creating a much 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 enables carriers, content providers and cloud providers to co-locate critical IT infrastructure in the region.
“We are delighted to extend our successful partnership with Equinix through 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”. Talal Al Mamari, Chief Executive Officer of Omantel stated. “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 string of strategic subsea investments for Equinix. 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 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data centres in Perth, Australia and Muscat, Oman. Additionally, during 2021, Equinix opened similar cable hosting sites in Genoa and Bordeaux as well as announced the opening of significant subsea connections with EllaLink in Portugal and Brazil.
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world’s digital infrastructure company, enabling digital leaders to harness a trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure that powers their success. Equinix enables today’s businesses to access all the right places, partners and possibilities they need to accelerate advantage. With Equinix, they can scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value.
About Omantel Wholesale
Omantel Wholesale is the international and domestic wholesale arm of Oman Telecommunications Company S.A.O.G. (Omantel), the first and leading integrated telecommunications service provider in Oman.
Founded in 1970, Omantel is a joint-stock company listed in Muscat Securities Market and is 51% owned by Oman Investment Authority (OIA), a wholly owned investment arm of the Omani government.
Omantel has investments in 20+ submarine cable systems globally. 5 unique submarine cable landing stations in Oman and Outbound connectivity of multiple terrestrial links to neighboring countries. It is the first and only GCC carrier to land a submarine cable in Europe.
Omantel’s Wholesale capitalizes on ultra-low latency networks to enable innovation and digital transformation globally, utilizing Oman’s geographic advantage at the absolute nexus of the east, west, north, and south to enable its customers and partners to deliver their services with the best possible end-user experience.
For more information, please visit www.omantel.om/Wholesale
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX data centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix products and solutions, unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenues from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; a failure to complete any financing arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the loss or decline in business from our key customers; risks related to our taxation as a REIT; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see recent Equinix quarterly and annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this press release.
Equinix Media Contacts
International Media Contact
Tom Farthing (EMEA)
Omantel Media Contact
Muna Al Mamari
Manager Press & Media
Tel: +968 24242743
Email: [email protected]
