Equinix to build first data center in Salalah, Oman

Equinix, Inc., the world’s digital infrastructure company™, has announced plans to set up a brand new data center in Salalah, located on the south coast of the Sultanate of Oman in the Middle East.

The data center is being built in collaboration with Omantel, the Middle East’s leading wholesale carrier, and will be fully managed commercially and operationally by Equinix as a carrier neutral and open access Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center.

Equinix’s commitment to Oman and the Middle East region is exemplified by the new SN1 site. SN1 will be Oman’s second carrier neutral data center, following MC1 in Muscat, and Equinix’s fifth in the region, joining strategic sites in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. When completed, SN1 will serve as a critical 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.

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 by shortening the length and route of many highly strategic and important cables in the region. The new site will also provide direct fiber links to Equinix’s MC1 in Muscat, the Middle East’s first carrier-neutral hub, allowing 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 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.

Equinix’s latest subsea landing site, the SN1, is the latest in a series of strategic subsea investments. SUB.CO chose the company in December 2021 to host the 9,800-kilometer Oman-Australia Cable (OAC) into its International Business ExchangeTM (IBX®) data centers in Perth, Australia and Muscat, Oman. Additionally, Equinix announced the opening of significant subsea connections with EllaLink in Portugal and Brazil in 2021, as well as the opening of similar cable landing sites in Genoa and Bordeaux.