The data centre colocation market is estimated to grow from $25.70bn in 2015 to $54.13bn by 2020, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16.1%, according to Markets and Markets.
Demand for hosting services and the exponential growth of cloud use, is driving the colocation industry through an aggressive expansion phase, with data centres opening in Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia and Africa.
CBR list the five biggest colo investments announced this year.
1. Equinix
Value: $420m
Locations: Tokyo, Dallas, São Paulo, Sydney
As one of the largest colocation data centre companies in the world, Equinix formally announced its expansion plans for 2016 in early March.
The company unveiled a budget of $4.5bn budget for acquisitions and organic growth, however, the value includes $3.8bn for the acquisition of TelecityGroup announced last year and $275m for Bit-isle buyout. This leaves $420m for the construction of four other data centres in Tokyo (Japan), Dallas (US), São Paulo (Brazil) and Sydney (Australia).
In Sydney, Equinix will build a fourth site, SY4, located near the central business district with access to Southern Cross Cable Head, providing extensive network interconnection in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. Equinix’s Sydney hubs account for 124,500 sq ft of colocation space, and once SY4 is fully built, the company expects to double that capacity.
In São Paulo, the company plans to build its third data centre, SP3, doubling the company’s capacity in the country which currently stands at over 109,000 sq ft.
In Japan, the operator plans to build a fifth hub in Tokyo, TY5, next to the capital’s financial district. As for the US, the company plans to expand its more than 45 data centres footprint in the US alone with a seventh site in the Dallas-Fort Worth region, DA7.
In total, Equinix will add over 4,000 cabinets and 200,000 sqf of floor space with the four expansions, increasing its colo footprint to over 150 hubs globally, and 14m sqf.
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2. Switch Supernap
Value: $300m
Locations: Bangkok
Known for its multi-billion dollar investments in mega data centres, mainly in the US, in January, Switch became the first colo to announce a large investment budget for the construction of a data centre in Thailand.
The American company will tap into the APAC market for the first time with the construction of a 6,000 data server racks hub across 12 acres of land in Hemmaraj Industrial Estate, in the eastern province of Chonburi next to Bangkok.
The company claims the facility will be the largest in the country and the first Uptime Institute rated Tier IV Gold data centre in Asia.
The data centre will be build outside the flood zone, 110-meters above sea level and 27 kilometres away from the international submarine cable landing station, which links the facility to national and international telecoms and IT carriers.
The facility is expected to come online in Q1 2017.
3. Digital Realty
Value: $117m
Locations: Melbourne, Virginia, Frankfurt
US data centre builder and developer Digital Realty is set to expand its footprint across three regions, in Melbourne (Australia), Virginia (US), and Frankfurt (Germany).
The colo has invested $43m in the acquisition of a 126-acre land parcel in Virginia, to build out a collocation data centre of over two million sq ft with a power supply of nearly 150 MW. Digital Realty said construction works are expected to start this year, subject to market demand.
In Europe, the company acquired a six-acre land parcel in Frankfurt for $6m. The site is capable of supporting a 27 MW campus across three buildings, totalling 339,000 square feet. Construction on site has not been scheduled and the company said works will be carried out once market demand justifies so.
Digital Realty currently has 23 data centers in Europe, including facilities in London, Dublin, Amsterdam, Geneva and Paris.
In Australia, the company has invested $68m in the acquisition of 4.7 acres of land close to its already existent data centres in Melbourne. The colocater has set out plans to build a 5.7MW hub in Deer Park with commercial floor capacity extending to 102,000 sqm.
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4. DigiPlex
Value: $70m
Locations: Oslo
In February, Norwegian colocater DigiPlex, issued NKr 575m (approximately $70m as of March 17) to finance further expansion in its Oslo data centre.
The company said expansion was needed due to local market demand. The firm is known for being the only colocater in the world to have used publicly traded bonds to finance data centre expansion.
The data centre has a PUE of 1.1 and uses the naturally cool Nordic climate, which has led to energy consumption to be reduced by 25%, according to the company. All energy used is produced by renewable sources.
The data centre, which is set for more expansion in the future, has 18MW of power and 20,000 servers across two three story buildings with 2,100 sqm of net space each.
5. IO
Value: $60m
Locations: London, New Jersey, Ohio, Phoenix
Formerly known as IO Data Centers, IO has announced it raised $505m in financing to expand its global data centres. Deutsche Bank provided $445m in debt capital, while securing $60m in additional growth capital from an affiliate of Macquarie Capital.
The proceeds from the Deutsche Bank loan allowed IO to refinance its existing US indebtedness, while the proceeds from the Macquarie Capital transaction will be used for domestic and international growth.
The company will be expanding its Slough, London, data centre, opened in 2015. The site spans across nearly five acres of land and has 43,670 sqf of commercial space, 20MVA of power and uses a closed loop chilled water system in addition to direct air-cooling to cool down the facility’s interior.
In the US, IO will invest in expanding its data centres in New Jersey and Ohio. In addition, IO.Phoenix will also be expanded following the purchase nine acres of land.
The company has plans to build a three-story data centre to supports colocation and cloud services in the region. The hub will have over 100MVA once fully built and is expected to be opened in 2017.
