Singapore digital hub strategy to drive demand for SG2: Equinix

from Commsday.com:

>>Singapore digital hub strategy to drive demand for SG2: Equinix

“The Singapore government has announced they want Singapore to be a digital hub,” Goh said. “They recognize cloud computing as the next phase of IT growth and want to be the location that attracts investors.”

While he would not confirmed whether a recently announced Salesforce.com (an Equinix customer in the US) data centre operation is part of the SG2 facility, Goh pointed to the launch of the Salesforce.com infrastructure as an example of a company attracted by the government’s Infocomm Development Authority to invest in the island state.

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Singapore however, won’t be the only hub in the region, since cloud players usually deploy their infrastructure across different locations.

“The way cloud customers deployed, it is usually in multiple locations, so we do have cloud customers in three out of four sites in Asia. So usually, they will spread out because cloud computing is all about load-balancing – they don’t put all their eggs in one basket. We tend to see them deploy in multiple locations, at least two, if not more, seldom one,” he said.

“If you look at some of the cloud that has been deployed, you see that it is a phenomenon worldwide, and Singapore being the major city will benefit from this as well. Basically, the cloud players would not go to the tier 2 countries or emerging countries, they will go to the tier 1 countries.”

Equinix’s SG2 facility was officially launched this week with a capacity of 700 cabinets. Customers will start moving into the new site next Monday, Goh said. SG2 is connected back to SG1 over a diverse dark fibre network operated by Equinix. Goh also added that SG2’s location in the Western part of Singapore puts it in proximity with a new cable that is scheduled to land in the coming months.

“All I can right now is that there is a major cable landing coming and the players are talking to us. With this cable coming in, that will spur its own demand,” he said, adding that Phase II of SG2 with a further 1,000 cabinets is already in the design stage and construction is scheduled for Q2 of 2010. “What it means is between now and Q2, I intend to sell those 700 cabinets.”