Omantel has entered into a joint venture with Equinix to deliver data center and interconnection services to customers in the Middle East through the development of a new network-dense data center.
The new data center in Barka, near Muscat, the capital of Oman will serve as a carrier-neutral hub in Oman where carriers, content providers and cloud providers colocate critical IT infrastructure.
Oman is strategically positioned between Asia, Africa and Europe, and the new Equinix International Business Exchange(IBX) data center will create a regional interconnection hub with ultra-low latencies between global business markets. Based on demand and requirements, customers in the GCC and wider MENA region can also leverage other Equinix data centers in the region for dual access to content providers, allowing carriers, content providers and cloud providers to further build resilience into their IT and network infrastructure.
Equinix will operate the new IBX data center, which will include 18,600 square feet of colocation space and approximately 750 cabinets at full build. The first phase of the three-phase build will include 250 cabinets and is expected to be completed and open for business by Q2 2019.
Talal Al Manari, CEO, Omantel
Today, data center 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 planned IBX data center with Equinix in Oman represents a massive step forward for Oman and the Middle Eastern ICT markets.
Eric Schwartz, President, EMEA, Equinix
We see significant potential for Oman as a market generally and, in particular, supporting CLS requirements as subsea cable momentum accelerates. It's all about meeting the growing need for interconnection – private data exchange between businesses.
