In the next few weeks Equinix will add the equivalent of five new data centers to its global estate of more than 100 data centers, investing $227m and adding some 4,200 new cabinets. The program will increase its data space by ten percent, adding one million square feet (around 100,000 sq m) to the 10+ million square feet it currently has. 

There are new exchanges in New York, Singapore, Melbourne, Toronto and London. The are are also two more of Equinix’s IBX (International Business Exchange) sites, which allow Equinix customers to connect directly to each other, over Equinix’s Metro Connect and carrier-provided fiber.

Steve Smith, president and CEO, Equinix said: “Equinix is the global interconnection platform for the world’s leading businesses. Our rich history of interconnection, built over the last 16 years, makes us the ideal place for business to connect, and we believe that these five new data centers will provide even more ways for global businesses to innovate.”

This announcement comes at a time of consolidation and expansion. Two weeks ago, European providers Telecity and Interxion announced plans to merge, creating a combined entity which will be bigger than Equinix’s European business. If the merger goes through, and is successful, Equinix will have tougher competition in Europe, and this announcement is clearly designed to take the sting out of that. 

This week saw a more global player expanding, as Japan’s NTT Communications bought Germany’s e-shelter. 

As a data center real estate investment trust (REIT), Equinjix is the biggest provider of retail colocation and hybrid cloud deployments serving 4,850 customers worldwide. It  does not compete in the wholesale data center space where competition erodes margins when supply is bigger than demand, however it might do so if the requirement is for cloud related services.

Over 100 enterprises, and cloud service providers and/or networks have joined the Equinix Cloud Exchange, and new wins include Google, IBM Software, Tata and Telecom Italia. The company expects its international strength and ecosystem to keep it ahead, and this announcement is designed to underline that.