Equinix announced plans to build a new 300,000 square foot data center in London and a new 110,000 square foot data center in Singapore. The expansions come at a time when demand in the London and Singapore markets continues to outpace supply, providing a favorable pricing environment, and as businesses are increasingly challenged to meet the growing power requirements of their IT operations. The company said the expansion plan is fully funded.
The site selected for the London expansion (LD5), located in the suburb of Slough, will augment Equinix’s four other centers in the London market. It has the capacity for multiple phases, enabling Equinix to fully build out the site over time as demand warrants. Capital expenditures for the initial phase of the build out are expected to range between $80 million and $90 million, of which $60 million will be spent by the end of 2009.
The new Singapore center (SG2), located in the western region of Singapore, will also be built out in phases, with capital expenditures for the initial phase expected to be approximately $45 million, which will be spent by the end of 2009. It will provide additional capacity to Equinix’s existing SG1 center located in the southern region of Singapore.
“Despite the challenges of the current global economy, Tier 1 Research is forecasting continued strong demand in the data center and colocation services market globally, given the supply-demand imbalance that has existed for the last several years in most markets, including London and Singapore,” said Dan Golding, vice president and research director at Tier 1 Research. “In fact, our belief is that downward pressure on the economy favors colocation providers, as companies forego the significant capital expenditures needed to develop their own internal data centers.”http://www.equinix.com
