Equinix Extends the Digital Edge for Companies with Five New Data Centers and 14 Expansions Opening in 2017

Expansion enables more companies to interconnect at the edge to transform their IT operations for the digital age

News provided by

Apr 03, 2017, 07:57 ET

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., April 3, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the global interconnection and data center company, will open five new International Business Exchange^TM (IBX®) data centers and 14 expansions of existing IBX data centers in 2017 as a part of its $1 billion non-recurring capital expenditure expansion program. Since the company's founding, Equinix has invested more than $17 billion (including the planned acquisition of a portfolio of data centers from Verizon Communications, Inc. as announced in December 2016) to extend its global footprint.

The expansions build on the significant global growth Equinix experienced in 2016, during which the company opened new data centers in key economic hubs including Dallas, Sydney and Tokyo, and integrated the acquisitions of Bit-isle in Japan and Telecity Group in Europe. By providing additional capacity in 2017, Equinix continues to play an important role in helping companies to extend their IT operations to the digital edge through the interconnection of people, locations, clouds and data.

2017 Openings

Five New IBX Data Center Openings in 2017 -- Throughout 2017, Equinix will open five new IBX data centers, adding more than 5,600 new cabinets and greater than one million gross square feet of data center space. The new sites will be directly connected to other Equinix IBX data centers within each metro via fiber links between the sites.

São Paulo – São Paulo is the financial and business capital of Brazil and the main data center market in the country. The first phase of the new SP3 IBX, opened in March, adds 725 cabinets and more than 215,000 gross square feet of data center space in 2017. At full buildout, SP3 will double Equinix's available space in Brazil, making SP3 the largest multi-tenant data center in Latin America. Equinix is home to the densest concentration of network carriers in Brazil and its São Paulo data centers are in close proximity to the Bovespa stock exchange, offering direct connectivity to a large number of financial firms. With the addition of SP3, Equinix currently operates five IBX data centers in Brazil. [press release]
Frankfurt – Frankfurt is one of Europe's leading financial centers and a hub for banking, commerce and manufacturing. Equinix's IBX data centers in Frankfurt offer dense concentrations of telecommunications, cloud and IT services, financial services and manufacturing companies. Equinix's sixth IBX in Frankfurt, FR6, is expected to open in Q2 2017 and is a new build that will be part of Campus Kleyer, one of the most carrier dense digital locations in EMEA. The first phase of FR6 will add 1,325 cabinets and more than 72,000 gross square feet of data center space in 2017.
Amsterdam – The AM4 IBX, expected to open in Q3 2017, is a new 12-story building that expands Equinix's Amsterdam footprint which currently consists of seven sites. The first phase of AM4 will add 1,555 cabinets and more than 245,000 gross square feet of data center space in 2017. At its existing sites in Amsterdam, Equinix currently offers connections to 80% of Europe within 50 milliseconds and is one of the most cloud dense locations in Europe. Equinix's Amsterdam operations also offer the opportunity to connect to large numbers of enterprises, content and digital media companies and providers of financial, cloud and IT services, and Internet service providers.
Silicon Valley – Located adjacent to its existing SV1 and SV5 IBX data centers at Equinix's San Jose Great Oaks campus, SV10 is expected to open in Q2 2017. The first phase of SV10 will add 795 cabinets and more than 190,000 gross square feet of data center space in 2017. It is the first build on 11 acres of land purchased by Equinix in 2016. Equinix data centers in the Silicon Valley area serve 600+ customers and represent the largest retail colocation footprint and densest interconnectivity in the Silicon Valley region, with many mature business ecosystems to match customers with the right business partners.
Washington, D.C. – The DC12 IBX, expected to open in Q3 2017, is an extension to Equinix's existing Ashburn campus. The first phase of DC12 will add 1,275 cabinets and more than 190,000 gross square feet of data center space in 2017. It is the first build on 44 acres of land purchased by Equinix in 2012. Equinix currently operates 10 IBX data centers in the Washington, D.C. metro with more than 500,000 square feet of colocation space. These facilities are a major communications gateway to Europe and the largest Internet peering point in North America.

2017 Expansions of Existing IBX Data Centers -- In addition to the five new IBX openings in 2017, Equinix expansions of existing IBX data centers include 14 projects that will open in 2017 in Amsterdam, Dallas, Dubai, Dublin, Frankfurt, Helsinki, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, Rio de Janeiro, Singapore, Toronto and Zurich.

Additional Expansion Activity

Land Acquisition for Future Development – As announced on March 2, Equinix has acquired 34.5 acres of undeveloped land in Ashburn, VA to further expand the company's data center and interconnection campus, which currently consists of eight IBX data centers. The acquisition of this property will provide Equinix with room to build multiple new greenfield IBX data centers in this densely interconnected location.[press release]
Acquisition of London Data Center – As announced on February 6, Equinix has purchased IO UK's data center operating business in Slough, United Kingdom. The facility, which will be renamed LD10, is in close proximity to Equinix's existing Slough data center campus. This addition will grow the number of data centers in London to eight, and with the existing footprint of four data centers in Manchester, it will help meet growing demand for digital infrastructure connectivity in the United Kingdom and Europe. [press release]
Acquisition of Zurich Data Center – As announced on February 28, Equinix has entered into an agreement for the purchase of ICT-Center AG, Zurich's data center operating business in Zurich, Switzerland. The facility, which is adjacent to Equinix's existing Zurich IBX data centers – ZH2 and ZH4 – provides Equinix with the ability to expand its ZH4 IBX data center to further enable interconnection in this key European metro. [press release]

Key Facts

Moving to the Digital Edge – IDC projects that more data-driven and analytically-oriented organizations that transform at the digital edge and the digital multi-cloud core will achieve $2 trillion in extra benefits in the form of increased revenue, lower costs, and improved productivity over the next five years.¹ Exemplifying this trend, as of Q4 2016, 82% of Equinix's recurring revenue is from customers in multiple metros, many of whom are looking to reach people, clouds and data at the edge by deploying at Equinix IBX data centers.
Equinix Today -- Equinix currently operates 150 IBX data centers in 21 countries and 41 metros across 14 million gross square feet of data center space. With more than 230,000 cross-connects that interconnect companies within the Equinix ecosystem, the company has more than 8,500 customers, including more than 1,400 networks and more than 2,700 cloud and IT service providers. Equinix customers include over one-third of the Fortune 500 and a quarter of the Forbes Global 2000.

Quotes

Steve Smith, CEO, Equinix
"The transformative impact of the shift to digital is touching every company and requiring an IT infrastructure that can accommodate this new reality. As a result, companies are seeking to bring their data to the digital edge -- closer to customers, employees and strategic partners. The globally consistent footprint of Equinix, combined with its ability to facilitate the critical interconnection between companies, is enabling this shift, creating opportunity for business growth in a rapidly changing digital world."
Munu Gandhi, Vice President, Network Services, Aon
"Equinix's commitment to global expansion provides opportunities for companies like Aon to interconnect with strategic partners to drive our digital transformation. With Equinix, we know that we have a partner that is in metros critical to our operations and can scale to meet the increasing demands of our growing digital business."
Rick Villars, Vice President, Data Center and Cloud, IDC
"In this Cloud 2.0 era, everything that matters is delivered via cloud. Therefore, when everything is in the cloud, the cloud must be everywhere. For enterprises, secure, direct connectivity to clouds everywhere has become paramount, and Equinix's focus on providing on ramps to clouds is positioning it well to meet this need. Its plans for expansion will allow it to offer customers more dynamic connectivity. It will also allow Equinix to address customers' need for greater access to the edge where enterprises must create a foundation for universal data control and cloud-ready asset management."

Additional Resources

¹ IDC White Paper sponsored by Equinix, "Rethinking the Datacenter with Interconnection to Meet the Data-Driven Business Challenges of the 3rd Platform Era," January 2017, Doc #US41146716

About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects the world's leading businesses to their customers, employees and partners inside the most interconnected data centers. In 41 markets across five continents, Equinix is where companies come together to realize new opportunities and accelerate their business, IT and cloud strategies. www.equinix.com.

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 centers and developing, deploying and delivering Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix; a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently built out or acquired data centers; 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; and other risks described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent 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 and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc.
International Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.

SOURCE Equinix, Inc.