Equinix expands to South Korea

South Korea is one of the top 15 largest economies in the world and one of the most vibrant digital economies globally—with high bandwidth and advanced applications driving many of its industries. It also ranks second globally for its focus on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), making it a key market for many of today’s global enterprises. It has a high broadband penetration rate, with numerous internet service providers (ISP) that require carrier-neutral data centers for their interconnection needs. By entering this new market, Equinix will help our global customers expand into South Korea, while helping local companies across the enterprise, service provider, cloud and content spaces accelerate their digital transformation initiatives via Platform Equinix^®.

 

The expansion into South Korea coincides with the impending nationwide launch of 5G networks in March 2019. The introduction of 5G will usher in a new era of next-generation services and breakthroughs in industries such as Internet of Things (IoT) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) that will require data transactions at higher speeds and volumes, with lower latencies. With data expected to continue to grow exponentially, the need for data centers that are able to meet the demands of businesses through colocation or interconnection services will be further amplified.  

 

This market expansion is significant to Equinix as it supports the company’s ongoing global expansion and strengthens its leadership position in the Asia-Pacific region. The launch of the SL1 IBX data center will expand the company’s Asia-Pacific coverage, enabling customers to securely deploy their infrastructure, reach global ecosystem partners and scale their businesses at the digital edge.

 

Over the past three years, Equinix has invested more than $800 million to organically build and expand its presence in the Asia-Pacific region. These IBX facilities are built on Platform Equinix, which is comprised of 200 IBX data centers across 52 markets and 24 countries, providing data center and interconnection services for more than 9,800 of the world’s leading businesses. Equinix currently has 40 IBX data centers across 12 markets in Asia-Pacific.

 

The new addition to Platform Equinix will be located at Sangam, known as Digital Media City, near Seoul’s central business district, and offer an initial capacity of 550 cabinets.

 

·      Currently, Equinix provides customers with access to more than 1,800 networks and over 2,900 cloud, IT and system integrator services globally. This strategic expansion to Seoul will help address the rising demand for carrier-neutral, network-dense data center services from companies in South Korea.

 

The expansion will also support the rapidly increasing private exchange of data between businesses—also known as interconnection. According to the second volume of the Global Interconnection Index, a market study published by Equinix, Interconnection Bandwidth capacity in Asia-Pacific—a measurement of direct and private data exchange between businesses—is expected to grow at a 51% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2017 to 2021, contributing more than 27% of Interconnection Bandwidth globally.

 

Designed for global and local businesses that require network and ecosystem density, the SL1 IBX data center will offer a wide range of connectivity options, including cross connects, Equinix Connect, Equinix Internet Exchange and Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric™ (ECX Fabric™), providing businesses with secure and direct connections to their customers, partners and the world’s leading services providers.

 

With ECX Fabric, Equinix customers can discover and dynamically connect to any other customer and partner through an easy-to-use portal and a single connection to the Equinix platform. This will include direct and secure connectivity to a wide array of network service providers as well as cloud and IT service providers globally.