text: Equinix is expanding Platform Equinix with a third International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Perth. To be named PE3, it will be the company’s 18th data center in Australia, enabling Equinix to meet growing demand for digital infrastructure and low-latency networking capabilities in Western Australia among global and local organizations.
  The US$54 million (approximately A$76.6 million) first phase of PE3 is targeted to open in Q4 2021. When it opens, the new facility will provide access to more than 1,045 companies, including 215 networks and 395 cloud providers, who utilize Platform Equinix in Australia to address the rising demand from digital leaders who want all the necessary digital infrastructure building blocks on one platform.
  “Equinix continues to provide customers with the best possible digital infrastructure building blocks to help them be successful. As a trusted advisor to our customers across the globe, we are committed to investing and expanding our platform and facilities to accelerate their digital transformation journeys. Following our ME2 IBX data center in Melbourne opening at the beginning of the year, we are delighted to announce our plan to open a third data center in Perth, which is fast becoming an important jumping-off point for businesses looking for fast, secure and low-latency connectivity to the rest of the world. We will continue to plan for expansion in Australia and support digital leaders across the country”
  Jeremy Deutsch, President, Equinix Asia-Pacific.
  “We’re thrilled to continue an exciting growth period for Equinix with the planned addition of the PE3 IBX in Perth. Since entering West Australia almost three years ago, we’ve seen substantial growth driven by the state’s digital economy. As the impact of digital technologies continues to grow in intensity across every industry, such as mining, government and life sciences, digital leaders need one platform that brings together and interconnects the foundational infrastructure required to create digital advantage. The interconnection options available in PE3 will support our customers during their digital transformation journeys as they move their businesses closer to the edge and look to expand within Asia-Pacific and beyond”
  Guy Danskine, Managing Director, Equinix Australia.
  Highlights / Key Facts
  - Perth is increasingly becoming a strategic part of Australia’s internet infrastructure due to its proximity to Southeast Asia and direct connectivity via two subsea cable links, the Australia Singapore Cable (ASC) and Indigo Cable. Both cables terminate directly inside the Equinix Perth campus, reducing the time it takes for data to move between Singapore and Australia by 50%.
  - With a third subsea cable being built that will connect Australia to Oman, Perth is evolving as the country’s second digital gateway to international markets. The availability of high-speed connectivity of subsea cables in Perth drives demand from global cloud, network and over-the-top (OTT) providers, as well as continued growth from government, mining and resource sectors. It also provides companies that currently enter Australia via Sydney with a second path for redundancy as well as a faster route to Asia and the world.
  - In March 2020, the Australian and Singapore governments signed the Australia-Singapore Digital Economy Agreement to promote digital trade between the two countries, putting Perth in a position to be a part of the next wave of data center expansion, with direct connectivity to Asia and global markets.
  - The PE3 IBX will be located adjacent to the PE2 IBX, approximately 13 miles (22 kilometers) from the Perth Airport, with a planned secure link bridge connecting the two facilities. The first phase of the Perth facility will offer an initial capacity of 650 cabinets and a colocation space of more than 1,830 square meters (approximately 38,600 square feet). When fully built, the facility will offer 1,650 cabinets and a colocation space of more than 10,600 square meters (approximately 114,200 square feet).
  - The PE3 IBX will provide a wide range of interconnection solutions, including Equinix Fabric—formerly Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric. Equinix Fabric is an on-demand, SDN-enabled interconnection service that allows any business to connect between its own distributed infrastructure and any other company’s distributed infrastructure, including some of the world’s largest network service and cloud providers on Platform Equinix. Through Equinix Fabric, customers in Perth can set up direct connectivity with international and local cloud service providers across Australia, such as Alibaba, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, SAP Cloud and SoftLayer, as well as major network service providers, such as Telstra, Optus and Vocus.
  - The Global Interconnection Index Volume 4 (GXI Vol.4) recently published by Equinix, found that traditional businesses are moving workloads to an edge-first architecture, and that COVID-19 is accelerating digital transformation in Asia-Pacific. Traditional business in Asia-Pacific, within industries like banking & insurance, securities & trading, manufacturing, and business & professional services, is forecast to represent more than 25% of global private connectivity bandwidth by 2023. This is led by the growing need to move workloads to the digital edge while scaling core IT infrastructure and reinforces the importance of Perth as a gateway to international markets. By 2023, these traditional businesses are expected to reach a peak interconnection bandwidth growth rate of over 50% annually.
  - Equinix’s global platform currently includes more than 220 data centers across 63 metros. In Asia-Pacific, Equinix’s data center footprint spans across key metros in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
  - When the PE3 facility opens, Equinix will have a national footprint of 18 IBX data centers across Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane in Australia.
  Chris Forth, Data Center Engineering Manager, BHP, added, “As a large global company with more than 80,000 employees with offices, mine sites, off-shore platforms and port operations across dozens of countries worldwide, our data-fueled business relies on a truly interconnected global digital infrastructure. The expansion of Equinix’s Perth presence with PE3, along with its connectivity to Southeast Asia, gives an organization like ours the low-latency digital platform we need to expand in key markets, while delivering stronger performance and productivity through real-time data-driven insights.”
  Simon Dixon, Network Manager, Zettagrid, “As an Australian cloud computing provider to the Asia-Pacific region, headquartered in Perth, Zettagrid is pleased to see that even amid today’s uncertain environment, Equinix remains committed to continuing its investment in our city. The expansion of the Equinix platform in Perth will enable us to continue providing the agile and resilient foundation our customers across the region need to thrive.”