As Barcelona becomes an increasingly strategic hub for the terrestrial and subsea cable networks connecting our digital lives, Equinix, the world's digital infrastructure company™, is building its second data center in the metro.
The new site will serve as a strategic connection point for data communications between Europe, Africa and the Middle East, with Barcelona quickly becoming a vital subsea hub. Major cables include: 2Africa, connecting key coastal metros around the entire African continent and Arabian Peninsula; Aqua Comms' Europe Middle East India cable, due to link Barcelona with Salalah and Mumbai; Medloop by Sipartech, connecting Barcelona to Ajaccio, Genoa and Marseille; and the Medusa cable, due to link Barcelona with Lisbon and a number of important Mediterranean, European and African metros. This substantial digital connectivity will be further bolstered by Equinix's global platform of more than 245 data centers, which includes key Mediterranean metros such as Bordeaux, Genoa, Lisbon and Milan.
A world-renowned hub for innovation and technical expertise, Barcelona continues to attract and house major international organizations and tech companies such as Airbnb, Amazon, Google, HP, Microsoft and Ubisoft, to the historic city. Equinix's new facility, to be known as the BA2 International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center, will be located adjacent to the company's existing BA1 site, forming a campus and dense digital ecosystem. It will add much-needed digital capacity to the city to enable local businesses to expand and grow, as well as encouraging international businesses to land or expand on Platform Equinix® in Barcelona—already an essential and strategically located hub for international communications.
Leading the way in sustainability, Barcelona was the first city in the world to be awarded the sustainable tourism Biosphere certification. Equinix was the first company in the data center industry to commit to become climate neutral globally by 2030, in conjunction with an approved short-term science-based target to reduce emissions, and aligned to the Paris Agreement 1.5-degree scenario. The company has a long-term goal of sourcing 100% clean and renewable energy for its global platform. BA2 will utilize 100% renewable energy and be designed with the aim to be Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Certified.
Jim Poole, Vice President at Equinix
Subsea cables play a vital role in enabling the modern digital world, and we anticipate much progress in the next couple of years following the pandemic-induced backlog. Subsea cables provide the underlying capacity between metros on different continents, while Equinix democratizes that capacity, making it easily accessible to a wide range of businesses and enabling rapid international expansion without the need for significant CAPEX investment.
