Digital infrastructure provider Equinix Inc (NASDAQ:EQIX) today announced it is expanding Platform Equinix with a third International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Perth. The new data center, to be named PE3, will be the company’s 18th data center in Australia, enabling Equinix to meet growing demand for digital infrastructure and low-latency networking capabilities in Western Australia among global and local organizations.

The US$54 million (approximately A$76.6 million) first phase of PE3 is poised to open in the final quarter of 2021. When it opens, the new facility will provide access to more than 1,045 companies, including 215 networks and 395 cloud providers, who utilize Platform Equinix in Australia to address the rising demand from digital leaders who want all the necessary digital infrastructure building blocks on one platform.

The PE3 IBX will be located adjacent to the PE2 IBX, approximately 13 miles (22 kilometers) from the Perth Airport, with a planned secure link bridge connecting the two facilities. The first phase of the Perth facility will offer an initial capacity of 650 cabinets and a colocation space of more than 1,830 square meters (approximately 38,600 square feet). When fully built, the facility will offer 1,650 cabinets and a colocation space of more than 10,600 square meters (approximately 114,200 square feet).

The PE3 IBX will provide a wide range of interconnection solutions, including Equinix FabricTM- formerly Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric. Equinix Fabric is an on-demand, SDN-enabled interconnection service that allows any business to connect between its own distributed infrastructure and any other company’s distributed infrastructure, including some of the world’s largest network service and cloud providers on Platform Equinix.

Through Equinix Fabric, customers in Perth can set up direct connectivity with international and local cloud service providers across Australia, such as Alibaba, AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, Oracle Cloud, SAP Cloud and SoftLayer, as well as major network service providers, such as Telstra, Optus and Vocus.

Equinix’s global platform currently includes more than 220 data centers across 63 metros. In Asia-Pacific, Equinix’s data center footprint spans across key metros in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea and Singapore.

When the PE3 facility opens, Equinix will have a national footprint of 18 IBX data centers across Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, Adelaide and Brisbane in Australia.