Equinix launched the first phase of SH5 its newest data center in Shanghai (SH5) will provide 200 cabinet equivalents, expanding to 900 with a gross area of 80,000 square feet when all three phases are completed.
The move follows the $230.5 million acquisition of Asia Tone in July 2012, which saw the supplier gain a total of six data centers and one disaster recovery center located across Hong Kong, Shanghai and Singapore, including SH5.
“Our expansion in China is a strategic move to meet strong demand for premium data center services from our customers around the globe. China is one of the fastest growing markets in the Asia-Pacific region and a priority market for many multinational companies,” said Alex Tam, managing director, Equinix Greater China.
“In addition, the PRC government’s twelfth, five-year plan announced in 2011 encouraged enterprises to adopt new technologies, such as cloud computing technology. With Shanghai expected to be the global financial center by 2020, the market requires a reliable data center service provider,” added Alex.
Equinix will provide its Smart Hands services on site.
The data center services market in China to see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.9% from 2009 to 20161. China’s data center capacity is expected to reach 1.86 million square meters by 2016, growing at an 11.3% CAGR from 2011 through 2016, a report from Research firm Frost & Sullivan says.
In addition to the recent acquisition of Asia Tone, Equinix also announced the completion of the second phase of its second Hong Kong data center, taking the total capacity at HK2 to 1,450 cabinets.
Last week Equinix announced plans to convert its legal status from a limited liability company to a Real Estate Investment Trust.
DatacenterDynamics Shanghai conference took place yesterday (Monday 17th September. Conference report to follow.
