Known as MC1, the facility is a carrier-neutral hub in Oman where carriers, content providers and cloud providers can colocate critical IT infrastructure.
Digital infrastructure company Equinix and global communications provider Oman Telecommunications Company have announced the opening of their new International Business Exchange data centre in Barka, near Muscat, the capital of Oman.
Known as MC1, the facility is a carrier-neutral hub in Oman where carriers, content providers and cloud providers can colocate critical IT infrastructure.
Strategically located between Asia, Africa and Europe, the new Equinix IBX in Oman will serve as a regional interconnection hub providing ultra-low latency connection points between key global business markets.
The new IBX benefits from direct connectivity to strategic cable landing stations (CLS) and subsea cable systems that terminate directly inside the facility and is expected to provide customers with increased performance and security, along with significant cost savings.
The MC1 is operated by Equinix and includes 23,600+ square feet of colocation space and 725 cabinets. The site has the capacity to grow to 2,150+ cabinets with future IBX builds. It is Equinix’s first data centre in Oman and its fourth in the MENA region.
With subsea cable systems terminating directly in MC1, the site benefits from continued investments by Omantel in multiple strategic subsea cable systems throughout the world, reaching over 50 countries globally. Omantel currently has investments in more than 20 subsea cable systems and leverages six diverse landing stations in Oman and one in Marseille, France.
Commenting on the new data centre, Talal Al Mamari, CEO, Omantel, said: “Today, data centre infrastructure sits at the heart of global ICT and enables all of us to enjoy the cloud-based apps and services we use every day. The new IBX in Oman represents a significant step forward for Oman and the Middle Eastern ICT markets. We are delighted that the facility is now open and, together with Equinix, we hope to enable a new era of telecommunications both regionally and globally. Coupled with the majority of the GCC’s international submarine cables landing in Oman, all accessible from the Equinix data centre, we believe this partnership will further enhance Oman’s competitiveness in the global digital economy.”
Eugene Bergen Henegouwen, President, EMEA, Equinix, remarked: “We are seeing accelerated demand for digital transformation in MENA. Across different sectors, organisations are reassessing their cloud adoption strategies and cloud readiness. In the digital age, companies need to reach all the right places and partners to seize the opportunity, and they need to do it out at the edge. Our partnership with Omantel greatly supports our ability to meet this need, particularly as our customers can now leverage Omantel’s significant subsea cable infrastructure. This type of colocation and interconnection services platform creates a magnetic effect that draws in more users that can leverage a global subsea cable fabric connecting cities, countries and continents together. Along with this, our investment in the Middle East market—including the new data centre in Oman—reflects our commitment to our customers as they continue their digital transformation journeys.”
