| Digital transformation of Korean companies
Accelerating Hybrid Multi-Cloud Migration
Colocation space expands from 550 cabinets to 1,000.

To respond to the wave of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the government has been building a national 5G network since 2017 and is sparing no effort in investing in cutting-edge fields such as blockchain, IoT, and AI. The technological advancements resulting from this are expected to not only support economic and social development, but also foster the growth of a data-driven economy.

As of August 2019, the number of 5G mobile service subscribers has already surpassed 2 million, indicating that data usage in Korea is expected to increase exponentially. This inevitably increases the demand for secure, private interconnection between users and service providers.

Accordingly, Equinix announced on the 30th that it has established the 'SL1 International Business Exchange (IBX),' the first telecommunications-neutral data center in Korea, in Sangam Digital Media City (DMC) in Seoul.

As part of Platform Equinix, SL1 IBX helps enterprises, service providers, cloud and content industries seize faster growth opportunities in the digital and cloud era.

The SL1 IBX offers over 1,790 square meters of colocation space with 550 cabinets. Equinix plans to expand the facility in the future to provide a total capacity of 1,000 cabinets and over 3,200 square meters of colocation space.

SL1 offers a variety of interconnection options, including Cross Connect, Equinix Connect, and Equinix Internet Exchange. This enables Korean companies to establish private connections with customers, partners, and service providers without any indirection.

Equinix Cloud Exchange Fabric (ECX Fabric), which will be available in the first quarter of 2020, is a software-defined interconnection service that will enable customers to connect their own distributed infrastructure to the more than 1,600 businesses within Equinix, the platform.

It can also connect to global network services and cloud providers such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Oracle Cloud.

SL1 is expected to partially meet the needs of Korean companies pursuing digital transformation and hybrid multi-cloud migration, namely, the demand for carrier-neutral, high-density network data center services.

IPC, a US-based financial technology and services provider, has been expanding its network infrastructure across Asia Pacific, the US, and Europe through Platform Equinix since 2007. Korean companies such as Naver Business Platform (NBP) are also expanding their business globally through Platform Equinox.

With the opening of SL1, Equinix now operates 43 IBX data centers across 13 markets in the Asia Pacific region.

"Equinix will support digital transformation in key markets, including Korea," said Jeremy Deutsch, President of Equinix Asia Pacific. "We plan to provide distributed IT infrastructure and interconnection services." He added, "Starting with the SL1 IBX, we are excited to accelerate the digital transformation of Korean companies through Platform Equinix, while also supporting global customers' entry into the Korean market."

Jang Hye-deok, Equinix Korea representative, also expressed her ambition, saying, “Through the SL1 IBX data center, Equinix will provide more than just interconnection and colocation services. Equinix will help all Korean companies access a globally interconnected and distributed platform.”