Equinix has teamed with telecommunications company du to create the first carrier-neutral data enter hub in the Middle East in an alliance that covers data center and interconnection services.

Equinix has purchased a newly built data center in Dubai that will open on 1 January for customers to operate its new 44,000 sq ft International Business Exchange data center which can cater for about 650 cabinets.

Next year’s opening will be of Phase 1.

Equinix said it will invest about US$40m for the acquisition, upgrade and future expansion of the site, which will allow customers to connect to more than 4,000 customers the colo provider has across Platform Equinix around the world.

Equinix EMEA President Eric Schwarz said the region is now seen as a key gateway for businesses, and its new data center will help meet demand being seen from current Equinix customers wanting to do business there.

“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,” Schwartz said.

“We see Dubai as a key business gateway and are excited to open a new data center in the area to help facilitate growth.”

Du CEO Osman Sultan said its own customers will be able to expand their digital footprint through the deal. With Datamena, du will provide interconnection services – the first of their type seen in the Middle East.

Network connectivity will be provided both in and out of the region, with du providing managed hosted services including Infrastructure-as-a-Service, security services and Software-as-a-Service offerings.

Datamena provides the regional ecosystem of operators, content providers and media companies and hosts through the Datamena transit zone for the trading of data capacity though the UAE Internet Exchange (UAE-IX).

The UAE-IX was only recently established as the region’s first carrier-neutral Internet Exchange as part of a project initiated by the UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority with the help of Frankfurt-based DE-CIX.

Equinix said it believes the project will be a growth accelerator for the UAE and the rest of the Middle East.

“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 the country,” it said in a statement.

The Equinix data center will be located in the IMPZ (International Media Production Zone), which is 24 miles from the Dubai International Airport.

The facility will have 19,332 sq ft of colocation space over a gross space of 44,078 sq ft.

It will provide capacity of 6kVA per cabinet, with six utility feeds incoming supplying 5.6MW.

Equinix said that 4 generators of 1.6MW will be used in an N+1 arrangement, providing 36 hours of onsite fuel autonomy.