US colo Equinix has today unveiled its expansion plans for 2016, which include over $4.5bn in acquisitions and organic growth.
In the company’s plans are the construction of four sites in Tokyo (Japan), Dallas (US), Sydney (Australia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).
The expansion plans came following growing demand for colocation and cloud services around the world as businesses realise the need for services interconnection driven by the IoT, CEO Steve Smith said.
The company said the $4.5bn figure includes $3.8bn for the TelecityGroup acquisition and $275m for Bit-isle buyout, leaving over $420m for investment in the new four data centres.
By the end of the year, including the integration of Telecity’s data centres, Equinix said it will add more than three million sq ft of colocation space in 37 data centres, expanding its global interconnection platform to nearly 150 data centres spread across 14m sq ft of commercial space, an increase of 27% yoy.
Equinix expects to bring the four new hubs online "in the coming weeks and months", adding over 4,000 new cabinets of capacity and over 200,000 sq ft of commercial space at full build.
In Brazil, the company plans to build its third data centre in Sao Paulo, SP3, doubling the company’s capacity in the country which currently stands at over 109,000 sq ft. The colo also serves the Rio de Janeiro area with two data centres.
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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.
The company currently runs four data centres in Australia, one in Melbourne (36,000 sq ft), and three in Sydney. The Sydney hubs account for 124,500 sq ft of colocation space, and once SY4 is fully built, the company expects to double that capacity.
Also in the Asia-Pacific region, the company plans to build a fifth hub in Tokyo, TY5, next to the capital’s financial district. Equinix operates ten data centres in Tokyo and two in Osaka, providing 350,000 of hosting space.
Lastly, 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 a company blog post, Phil Schwarzmann, editor-in-chief of Equinix’s blog Interconnections said: "The DA7 data centre will support global enterprises that require high power density, as well as connectivity to leading NSPs and CSPs in this increasingly strategic market."
All the sites will have access to Equinix’s Cloud Exchange, currently available in 21 markets, including the UK.
Smith said: "Global businesses are increasingly realising that interconnection is essential to deliver a rich, ubiquitous user experience, with the agility and actionable insight to enable new business models and enhanced productivity.
"This will be even more apparent as businesses locate their data closer to the edge to support the Internet of Things. Our focus on continually expanding our global interconnection platform means that wherever you grow, we will be there."
Last week, the company also released its 2015 end of the year results, with revenues up 12% to $2.7bn, from $2.4bn the previous year.
