Equinix launches new $70m data centre in Perth

US-based data centre provider Equinix has opened a new International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre in Perth named PE3, investing US$54 million (more than AU$70 million)

The new centre is the company’s 18th data centre in Australia and will allow the company’s customers in Perth to set up connectivity with international and local cloud service providers.

Perth was chosen for its proximity to Southeast Asia and subsea cable connectivity with the rest of APAC and EMEA, making it a faster route to key global markets, the company said. It added that the area is also key for serving the mining and resources sector.

PE3 is adjacent to Equinix’s PE2 facility and there is a link bridge connecting the two.

The new data centre includes 700 cabinets and a colocation space of more than 1,830 square metres in its initial phase. Upon completion, those numbers will rise to 1,650 cabinets and 10,600 square metres of colocation space.

It will include ‘green’ features and measures, including motion-activated LED lights, high temperature chilled water set points, DCIM and Adaptive Control Systems, as well as cold/hot aisle containment to reduce the consumption of resources, the company said.

 It aims to be using 100 percent renewable energy by 2030 to help combat the significant negative effects of data centre energy consumption on the Earth’s temperature.

“The past two years have seen greater demand for low-latency, high-performance applications, resulting in significant increases in traffic on networks and subsea cables. In today’s environment, our partnership with Equinix is essential to getting edge compute as close to our customers as possible, improving the customer experience and helping them pursue a digital-first strategy,” Telstra head of state and mining and energy group owner Malcolm DeSilva said.

“Perth is a strategic digital gateway into and out of Australia. The opening of PE3 presents more collaboration opportunities for us to grow in the fast-developing Perth market.”

Equinix Australia managing director Guy Danskine highlighted Government research that shows the acceleration of digital transformation across WA.

 “The West Australian market has experienced substantial growth driven by the acceleration of digital transformation across industries. Digital leaders are increasingly coming to Equinix to access all the necessary essential infrastructure required to create a digital advantage.” he said.

“With continued investment in subsea cables, Perth is becoming a key gateway for digital expansion and collaboration into Asia-Pacific and the Middle East, enabling our customers and partners to expand into new regions, countries and metros around the world.”