Leading digital infrastructure company, Equinix, is planning to open a futuristic data center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in the first quarter of 2024. Equinix has made announcements indicating its entry into Johor, Malaysia, highlighting the country’s emergence as a strategic regional hub for digital interconnection between businesses.
The country’s growth in cloud services and e-commerce adoption, along with 5G technology investments has earned the country a spot as one of the fastest-growing data center markets in the ASEAN region. The firm aims to meet the rising demand from both local and global companies expanding their operations in Malaysia.
KL1, the new data center, will be in Cyberjaya, targeted at promoting and boosting the country’s digital economy. The first phase of KL1 will offer an initial capacity of 450 cabinets and 1,300 square meters of colocation space, with future plans to provide a total of 900 cabinets and 2,630 square meters of colocation space.
The date center will serve as a key hub for global networks, content providers, and enterprises to exchange high volumes of internet traffic through Equinix Internet Exchange, access new digital corridors and engage in direct data exchange with other providers, fostering the growth of the digital economy and e-commerce landscape in ASEAN. Equinix’s extensive global experience in supporting 5G development positions KL1 as a catalyst for Malaysia’s digital vision outlined in the government’s MyDIGITAL blueprint, contributing to the country’s aspirations of becoming a regional digital economic powerhouse.
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President of Equinix Asia-Pacific, Jeremy Deutsch, expressed excitement about expanding Platform Equinix in the two most strategic metros in Malaysia.
“Over the past several years, we have witnessed Malaysia emerge as an increasingly strategic location for global digital infrastructure, and we believe it to be an attractive destination for data center growth and investment. Following our initial investment in Johor, we are excited to add another data center in Kuala Lumpur. By expanding Platform Equinix® in the two most strategic metros in Malaysia, we will enable Malaysian businesses, as well as multinationals with a presence in Malaysia, to leverage a trusted platform to bring together and interconnect the foundational infrastructure to power their success. We believe the two data centers will fuel Equinix’s existing data center momentum and support Malaysia’s aspirations as a digitally driven connectivity hub.”
With this expansion, Equinix’s footprint in the Asia-Pacific region will include 51 data centers in 13 metros across Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and now Malaysia, with further expansions planned in Indonesia. Equinix’s investment in Malaysia demonstrates its confidence in the country’s potential as a top-tier data center destination and will play a vital role in accelerating the development of Malaysia’s digital economy.
As Malaysia enters Phase 2 of its MyDIGITAL blueprint, the demand for digital infrastructure is expected to remain robust. According to Synergy Research, Malaysia is already the third-largest data center colocation market in the ASEAN region and is forecasted to experience a compound annual growth rate of approximately 11% from 2022 to 2027.
