REDWOOD
CITY, Calif., Feb. 16,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- As Barcelona becomes an increasingly strategic
hub for the terrestrial and subsea cable networks connecting our
digital lives, Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), the world's
digital infrastructure company™, is building its second data center
in the metro.
The new site will serve as a strategic connection point for data
communications between Europe,
Africa and the Middle East, with Barcelona quickly becoming a vital subsea hub.
Major cables include: 2Africa, connecting key coastal metros around
the entire African continent and Arabian Peninsula; Aqua Comms'
Europe Middle East India cable, due to link Barcelona with Salalah and Mumbai; Medloop by Sipartech, connecting
Barcelona to Ajaccio, Genoa and Marseille; and the Medusa cable, due to link
Barcelona with Lisbon and a number of important
Mediterranean, European and African metros. This substantial
digital connectivity will be further bolstered by Equinix's global
platform of more than 245 data centers, which includes key
Mediterranean metros such as Bordeaux, Genoa, Lisbon
and Milan.
Jim Poole, Vice President at
Equinix, noted: "Subsea cables play a vital role in
enabling the modern digital world, and we anticipate much progress
in the next couple of years following the pandemic-induced backlog.
Subsea cables provide the underlying capacity between metros on
different continents, while Equinix democratizes that capacity,
making it easily accessible to a wide range of businesses and
enabling rapid international expansion without the need for
significant CAPEX investment."
A world-renowned hub for innovation and technical expertise,
Barcelona continues to attract and
house major international organizations and tech companies such as
Airbnb, Amazon, Google, HP, Microsoft and Ubisoft, to the historic
city. Equinix's new facility, to be known as the BA2
International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center, will be
located adjacent to the company's existing BA1 site, forming a
campus and dense digital ecosystem. It will add much-needed digital
capacity to the city to enable local businesses to expand and grow,
as well as encouraging international businesses to land or expand
on Platform Equinix® in Barcelona—already an essential and
strategically located hub for international
communications.
"Spain is an increasingly
important digital market and a solid port in the Mediterranean
connectivity map. Colt's planned expansion into Equinix's new
Barcelona site builds upon our
existing metro connectivity across the country. By further
bolstering our presence, we are well positioned to drive the next
wave of growth for businesses, providing local and international
businesses alike with access to the dense Colt IQ Network. As
long-standing partners, Colt and Equinix are transforming the
enterprise experience of procuring network and digital services
with flexible, agile on-demand provisioning," commented Joan
Monraba, Country Manager for Colt Technology Services, Spain.
Leading the way in sustainability, Barcelona was the first city in the world to
be awarded the sustainable tourism Biosphere certification. Equinix
was the first company in the data center industry to commit to
become climate neutral globally by 2030, in conjunction with an
approved short-term science-based target to reduce emissions, and
aligned to the Paris Agreement 1.5-degree scenario. The company has
a long-term goal of sourcing 100% clean and renewable energy for
its global platform. BA2 will utilize 100% renewable energy
and be designed with the aim to be Leadership in Energy and
Environmental Design (LEED) Certified.
"Addressing digital demand sustainably is of vital importance,
and something we are focused on at Equinix. The timing of this
investment couldn't be better, given the surge in demand we are
seeing from companies in Barcelona
and across the Mediterranean" said Judith Gardiner, Vice President for Growth and
Emerging Markets at Equinix. "The potential for Barcelona to become a dense and valuable
strategic hub cannot be overstated, and we are delighted to be able
to serve this great city by adding it to our strategy to galvanize
our position as the connectivity core of the
Mediterranean."
Technology continues to be a high-growth sector in both
Barcelona and throughout
Spain, supported by the Spanish
government's digitization initiatives. Digital Spain 2026, for example, sets out a roadmap to
provide broadband coverage for 100% of the country's population and
promote 5G technology across the nation. According to the Barcelona
City Council, the area now has more than 2,000 technology
companies, 210 technology parks, centers and research facilities,
and nine international facilities such as the Barcelona
Supercomputing Centre. The Catalonia region alone accounts for a
quarter of all IT companies in Spain, and generates 20 percent of national
turnover in technology, making connections to Barcelona from across Europe an essential driver of success for
international business.
Equinix's Barcelona sites
enable customers to be part of a highly connected digital
ecosystem. Hosting 45+ network carriers, these expansive facilities
provide connectivity to the CATNIX regional internet exchange as
well as the Equinix Internet Exchange®. Customers
can leverage Equinix's digital services to build digital
infrastructure securely and rapidly at software speed with
automated bare metal and virtual network services to connect and
consume network on demand.
About Equinix
Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the
world's digital infrastructure company. Digital leaders harness
Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect
foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables
organizations to access all the right places, partners and
possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital
services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value,
while supporting their sustainability goals.
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,
risks to our business and operating results related to the COVID-19
pandemic; the current inflationary environment; foreign currency
exchange rate fluctuations; increased costs to procure power and
the general volatility in the global energy market; the challenges
of acquiring, operating and constructing IBX and xScale®
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;
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 and upcoming 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.
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SOURCE Equinix, Inc.