Colocation and interconnection service provider Equinix has opened a new data center in the Washington, D.C., region. The facility is located on the company’s existing campus and becomes its sixth data center in the market.

Equinix invested $80m in the facility, bringing online enough capacity to house 1,750 cabinets. According to the provider’s news release, the area is the second-largest hub for cloud computing and IT customers for Equinix, coming in closely behind Silicon Valley.

“As the economy continues to globalize, the Washington, D.C. metro area increases in strategic importance,” the company’s North America President Peter Ferris said in a statement. “The region serves as the main hub for inbound and outbound traffic and is a crucial component of any global expansion plan.”

Equinix offers access to more than 180 networks in the new facility.

This is the second expansion announcement Equinix has made this week. On Wednesday, the provider announced a plan to add space to one of its data centers in Singapore, a $43m investment to add space for 850 cabinets by mid-2011.

Equinix currently operates a total of 89 data centers across 35 metro areas in North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.