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| [November 20, 2012] |
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du Alliance Brings Platform Equinix to the Middle East by Creating a New Hub in Dubai
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. & DUBAI, United Arab Emirates --(Business Wire)--
Equinix,
Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX),
the global interconnection and data center company, and Emirates
Integrated Telecommunications Company PJSC (DFM: du), today announced
they have entered into an alliance to deliver data center and
interconnection services to customers in the Middle East.
This alliance will establish the first world-class, carrier-neutral hub
in the region where carriers, content providers, cloud providers,
financial service and enterprise customers colocate critical data
infrastructure.
To underpin the alliance's initial business offering, Equinix (News - Alert) has
acquired a newly built data center facility in Dubai. Equinix will
operate this new International Business Exchange™ (IBX®)
data center, which has capacity of 44,000 square feet and approximately
650 cabinets. The first phase of the data center is expected to be
completed and open for business by January 1, 2013. Equinix expects to
invest approximately US$40 million for the acquisition, upgrade and
future expansion of this site.
Additionally, du has created the recently announced datamena
brand, and expects to invest an equivalent amount to further grow the
datamena platform and service portfolio over time. datamena constitutes
a transit zone, which allows international customers to host and
distribute content, and to trade data capacity in a cost effective way.
datamena services will only be available in the data centers in the
alliance. Along with investments in the datamena hub, du has also
secured the capability to offer its enterprise customers du managed data
center services and data center capacity.
Through this alliance, customers of Equinix and du will benefit from
close proximity to the United rab Emirates (UAE) and regional market
and have the opportunity to connect to more than 4,000 customers across
Platform Equinix™. This brings significant advantages to
customers looking to expand their global footprint, and is expected to
be a growth accelerator for businesses in the UAE and the rest of the
Middle East region. UAE-based organizations will be able to gain
competitive advantage through the provision of operationally reliable,
highly resilient and secure data center facilities located within
country. The alliance will allow du to offer network, interconnection
and data center services to its existing and growing UAE customer base.
"The Middle East continues to strengthen its position as an important
business hub and we are seeing increased demand from our customers for
data center services across the region. We see Dubai and the UAE as a
key business gateway and are excited to open a new data center in the
area to help facilitate growth," said Eric Schwartz, president, Equinix
EMEA. "Many companies are looking to expand their operations into and
out of the area, and we will be working with du to provide the
connectivity and services they require to succeed."
Osman Sultan, CEO for du, said, "The alliance enables our customers to
expand their digital footprint from a location where some of the
fastest-growing markets in the world intersect. The introduction of
datamena and a carrier-neutral data center will act as a catalyst for
the next stage of internet development in the region. This resonates
with the UAE's vision of enhancing its role as a regional business hub
and to be one of the best places to do business in the world."
About du
We opened for business in 2006. We offer mobile and fixed telephony,
broadband connectivity and IPTV (News - Alert) services to individuals, homes and
businesses. We also provide carrier services for businesses and
satellite up/downlink services for TV broadcasters.
As a rapidly-growing enterprise, we have over 2,000 people working to
enhance and expand our bouquet of service offerings. Our people come
from over 60 countries - we mirror the rich cultural diversity of our
nation, while being able to serve our customers in a variety of
languages.
Over 50 percent of our senior management team and customer-facing
employees are UAE nationals, and we remain committed to providing
fulfilling opportunities for quality talent in a cosmopolitan working
environment.
By the end of Q2 2012, more than 5.7 million people and over 50,000
businesses have chosen to use our services. In a survey conducted by ARC
Chart, we were named the Best Mobile Broadband Network 2012 in the
Middle East and Africa region. We also ranked first in MENA's Standard &
Poor/Hawkamah Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance Index in
2011.
du is 39.5 percent owned by Emirates Investment Authority, 20.075
percent by Mubadala Development Company PJSC, 19.5 percent by Emirates
Communications and Technology LLC and the remaining stake by public
shareholders. du is listed on the Dubai Financial Market (DFM) and
trades under the name 'du'.
About Equinix
Equinix, Inc. (Nasdaq: EQIX) connects more than 4,000 companies directly
to their customers and partners inside the world's most networked data
centers. Today, businesses leverage the Equinix interconnection platform
in 30 strategic markets across the Americas, EMEA and Asia-Pacific. www.equinix.com.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from
expectations discussed in such forward-looking statements. Factors that
might cause such differences include risks and uncertainties associated
with our expansion to the Middle East, including, but not limited to,
the risks and challenges of international operations and entering into
an alliance with a new partner. We also face other general risks,
including, but not limited to, the challenges of acquiring, operating
and constructing IBX centers and developing, deploying and delivering
Equinix services; unanticipated costs or difficulties relating to the
integration of companies we have acquired or will acquire into Equinix;
a failure to receive significant revenue from customers in recently
built out or acquired data centers; failure to complete any financing
arrangements contemplated from time to time; competition from existing
and new competitors; the ability to generate sufficient cash flow or
otherwise obtain funds to repay new or outstanding indebtedness; the
loss or decline in business from our key customers; and other risks
described from time to time in Equinix's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. In particular, see Equinix's recent quarterly and
annual reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, copies
of which are available upon request from Equinix. Equinix does not
assume any obligation to update the forward-looking information
contained in this press release.
Equinix and IBX are registered trademarks of Equinix, Inc. International
Business Exchange is a trademark of Equinix, Inc.

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