Muscat – Equinix, one of the world’s leading digital infrastructure companies, has officially opened its state-of-the-art data center in Salalah, establishing a significant new interconnectivity hub in Oman that will transform global data flows.

The new data center – SN1 – is built in cooperation with Omantel, a regional leading telecom and technology provider in the Middle East.

The facility is commercially and operationally managed in full by Equinix as a carrier neutral and open access Equinix International Business Exchange (IBX) data centre.

This marks the second carrier-neutral data center built in Oman, following the success of MC1 in Muscat, and Equinix’s sixth facility in the Middle East, complementing its existing operations in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. SN1’s unique location in Salalah optimises the routes of several highly strategic connections, offering a more direct and cost effective reachability for businesses and service providers across four continents.

Strategic impact on global connectivity

The SN1 data center will significantly reshape traffic flows across the Middle East and beyond, reducing latency and improving the resilience of global networks. The facility will also feature direct fiber connectivity to Equinix’s MC1 data center in Muscat, providing carriers, hyperscalers, content providers, and cloud service providers the ability to co-locate their critical infrastructure and further enhance regional operations.

In a press statement, Kamel al-Tawil, Managing Director of Equinix for the MENA region, highlighted the facility’s importance, saying, “I’m delighted to inaugurate our latest strategic data center, further showcasing our investment in Oman and the wider Middle East. With extension to multiple subsea cables, this new hub in Salalah will transform global connectivity across different continents and aligns perfectly with our strategy of creating network-dense, highly interconnected ecosystems globally,”

Talal al Mamari, CEO of Omantel, emphasised on Salalah’s strategic importance. He said, “Today, we are announcing another major milestone through our partnership with Equinix. The launch of the SN1 data center is a corner stone of our strategy to create a global connectivity hub in Salalah. We are committed to attracting the world’s leading content providers and hyperscalers to the region, and this state-of-the-art data center is a key part of this vision.

“By next year, we plan to land multiple subsea cables in Salalah, solidifying its status as one of the most connected hubs in the region due to its location at the crossroads of major international routes between Asia, Europe, Africa and all the way to Australia.”

Over the past decade, Omantel has invested over $1bn in international networks and data centers, successfully attracting global hyperscalers to establish their regional hubs in Oman.

On a global level, the creation of the joint venture Zain Omantel International (ZOI) – marks a significant step forward for the international business, creating a leading force in the wholesale telecom sector, delivering end-to-end connectivity solutions across the Middle East and beyond.

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