Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX), a leading digital infrastructure company™, has unveiled its pioneering data center in Salalah, Oman.
The new data center, located in the coastal city of Salalah, aims to transform global data flows. It’s built in cooperation with Omantel, a premier telecom and technology provider in the Middle East.
The cutting-edge facility is fully commercially and operationally managed by Equinix as a carrier neutral and open access Equinix International Business Exchange™ (IBX®) data center.
The SN1 data center is the second carrier-neutral data center in Oman, following the successful launch of MC1 in Muscat, and Equinix’s sixth facility in the Middle East, complementing its existing operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi.
SN1’s strategic location in Salalah optimizes the routes of several highly strategic connections, providing a more direct and cost effective reachability for businesses and service providers across four continents.
The date center will revolutionize traffic flows across the Middle East and beyond, reducing latency and enhancing the resilience of global networks. In addition, the facility will include direct fiber connectivity to Equinix’s MC1 data center in Muscat, providing carriers, hyperscalers, content providers, and cloud service providers the ability to co-locate their critical infrastructure and elevate regional operations.
Kamel Al-Tawil Managing Director – Equinix MENA region
“I’m delighted to inaugurate our latest strategic data center, further showcasing our investment in Oman and the wider Middle East. With extension to multiple subsea cables, this new hub in Salalah will transform global connectivity across different continents and aligns perfectly with our strategy of creating network-dense, highly interconnected ecosystems globally.”
Talal Al Mamari, CEO of Omantel, stated that, “Today, we are announcing another major milestone through our partnership with Equinix. The launch of the SN1 data center is a cornerstone of our strategy to create a global connectivity hub in Salalah. We are committed to attracting the world’s leading content providers and hyperscalers to the region, and this state-of-the-art data center is a key part of this vision. By next year, we plan to land multiple subsea cables in Salalah, solidifying its status as one of the most connected hubs in the region due to its location at the crossroads of major international routes between Asia, Europe, Africa and all the way to Australia.”
Omantel has invested over $1 billion in international networks and data centers over the past decade, attracting global hyperscalers to establish their regional hubs in Oman.
On a global level, the creation of the joint venture, Zain Omantel International (ZOI), marks a key step forward for the international business, creating a leading force in the wholesale telecom sector, delivering end-to-end connectivity solutions across the Middle East and beyond.
