Digital infrastructure company Equinix, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQIX) today announced plans to build a new International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the Agecroft Commerce Park in Salford, Manchester, UK. The new IBX- called MA5 – will be Equinix’s fifth data center in the Greater Manchester area and is scheduled to open in the second quarter of 2022.

Equinix’s new flagship site in Manchester will offer premium colocation and interconnection services for customers. The Phase 1 build will provide 3,600 m2 colocation space. Upon completion of all planned phases, the full site is expected to provide 6,480 m2 of colocation space, with 2,000 cabinets. MA5 is due to have excellent connectivity to the MA1/MA4 Campus, MA3, and Equinix’s London and Dublin IBX and xScale sites.

Lorraine Wilkinson, Vice President of Sales, UK, Equinix, commented:

“With a rich industrial history, Manchester has long been one of the UK’s leading cities for business, catering to globally renowned companies and start-ups looking to grow and scale their operations. MA5 will provide high-speed connectivity to the North of England, facilitating the next generation of digital transformation within the region. The new site will bring Equinix’s total investment in Manchester to over £130 million, and £1 billion+ in the UK’s digital infrastructure as a whole.”

MA5 has been designed for high density deployments in support of digital transformation projects across industries. It will offer state-of-the-art colocation, interconnection and edge services, including Equinix Fabric™, Equinix Internet Exchange® and Network Edge nodes, making MA5 an attractive new interconnection hub and remote geo-redundant deployment location for London.