Equinix to deploy subsea cable system between Australia and Middle East

SUB.CO has chosen Equinix, Inc. to land the Oman Australia Cable (OAC) directly into its International Business Exchange data centers in Perth, Australia (PE2) and Muscat, Oman (MC1). The 9,800-kilometer subsea cable system will use these locations as critical connectivity hubs.

Bevan Slattery, Founder, SUB.CO  says, “Building OAC was very important for us, as a key new route to mitigate against the risks inherent in systems that traverse from Asia to EMEA via the Malacca Strait. Given their global capabilities and flexible approach, working with Equinix is another key component of ensuring OAC’s success.”

Jim Clarke, CEO, SUB.CO shares his opinion, “Our customers on the OAC will be able to take advantage of Equinix’s international ecosystem in Perth and Muscat. Two great brands, working together to deliver amazing outcomes.”

Guy Danskine, Managing Director, Equinix Australia commented, “Perth is an important growth market for Equinix in Australia and a strategic interconnection point into Asia and now MENA thanks to the OAC. We are thrilled to provide our enterprise customers and partners in Australia even greater access to the growing network of global subsea cables, which can give them increased opportunities to expand internationally and compete in today’s fast-growing digital economy.”

Kamel Al-Tawil, Managing Director, Equinix MENA said, “Rapid growth of the digital economy has driven increased demand for global connectivity and hybrid multi-cloud solutions in the MENA region. Organizations across various sectors are evaluating their cloud adoption strategies and cloud readiness. At Equinix, we are providing customers direct access to different markets via the best routes. The Equinix Internet Exchange link allows network operators, content providers and enterprises, to leverage a global subsea cable fabric connecting cities, countries, and continents together.”

Perth has quickly established itself as an important subsea cable hub in Australia, as the country continues to undergo fast digital transformation. It also has a strategic function as a west coast connecting point for Sydney and eastern Australia, providing regional diversity. Muscat is strategically placed between Asia, Africa, and Europe, serving as a regional interconnection gateway for key worldwide markets, and the OAC is projected to boost Oman’s digital economic competitiveness.

The OAC is set to open in Q2 2022 and will connect Australia and Oman immediately. Hyperscalers, enterprise customers, and network providers will have access to a dense ecosystem of networks and the lowest latency, most direct way between Australia and Europe thanks to a direct link between these two nations into Equinix IBX data centers.

Highlights / Key Facts

• OAC is a three-fiber pair system that will provide Australia and Oman with cost-effective, reliable, low-latency, and diversified capacity. This new route complements Australia’s current networks and adds international bandwidth to meet the growing need for high-performance connectivity.

• The dedicated landing station architecture in PE2 and MC1 will provide greater security and a variety of network entry points for OAC’s core network to be built out. The proximity of PE2 and MC1 to the Indian Ocean and various major subsea cable lines was an important consideration in the selection process, as was Equinix’s global experience in deploying landing stations.

• Equinix is a natural choice for subsea cable operators because it has access to the world’s best cloud and network providers. Subsea connectivity is now available at 41 Equinix IBX data centers throughout the world. Customers can access more than 3,000 Cloud and IT service providers globally, all major internet exchanges, and vast ecosystems of network service providers in Perth and Muscat when subsea cable systems are coupled to cloud and content ecosystems on Platform Equinix®.

• In Australia, Equinix operates 17 IBX data centers. Equinix expanded its PE2 IBX data center in 2019 for US$11 million (about A$15.6 million), delivering greater interconnection capabilities to local customers. This facility offers cutting-edge colocation as well as a variety of advanced connectivity services, including virtual interconnections to cloud providers like Google Cloud. Customers connecting to OAC long-term colocation capacity will be able to scale their environments at the Equinix Perth campus. Already a major interconnection point due to geographical proximity and next-generation subsea cable connectivity for the ASC and Indigo systems, OAC positions Perth as Australia’s connection point to Europe.

• Equinix MC1 will open in October 2020 in Barka, South Al Batinah, Muscat, Oman’s capital. It is Equinix’s first data center in Oman and its fourth in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Equinix MC1 has direct access to major cable landing stations as well as subsea cable systems that terminate inside the site. MC1 has 725 cabinets and over 23,600 square feet of colocation space. With future IBX constructions, the facility has the potential to expand to over 2,150 cabinets.