Equinix expands Colombia data center, lifts investment to US$73mn

Equinix brought online the second phase of BG2, its second data center in Colombia, doubling the site’s cabinet capacity in Bogotá.

The expansion required US$28mn in investment, adding to the US$45mn invested in the facility’s first phase, which came online in 2022 with 550 racks. Activation of the second phase had been planned for the second quarter of 2026.

With the new phase, the site now has 1,100 cabinets. Unlike other companies in the sector, Equinix does not typically disclose the power capacity of its projects and expansions.

BNamericas, however, estimates that the facility, which has an enterprise (IBX) profile and is geared toward interconnection, has between 6MW and 7MW of capacity.

Like the first site, BG2 is also located in Bogotá’s free trade zone, an industrial hub with tax benefits. Equinix’s first data center in Bogotá, BG1, was part of a portfolio of 29 global data centers the group acquired from Verizon in 2017 for US$3.6bn.

Colombia

According to Equinix, the investment also reinforces Bogotá’s role as one of the region’s main digital interconnection hubs.

The Colombian capital accounts for a significant share of digital traffic in northern South America and the Andean region, and is home to strategic points such as NAP Colombia and several internet exchange points (IXPs).

The country is also an important hub for submarine cables on the American Pacific coast. Currently, 11 cables reach the Colombian coast, mainly in Barranquilla and Cartagena.

Through its Bogotá facilities, Equinix customers can access low-latency international routes to the continent’s main traffic exchange hubs, including MI1 in Miami, also operated by Equinix and considered one of the largest IXPs in the Americas.

“Organizations in Colombia and the Andean region are accelerating their digital transformation processes and increasingly require scalable, high-performance infrastructure. By doubling BG2’s capacity, we are enabling our customers to grow with confidence while accessing the rich ecosystems available through Equinix’s data centers,” said Eduardo Carvalho, managing director of Equinix LATAM.

Equinix’s installed base in Latin America totals 20 data centers across seven metro areas:

• São Paulo (6): SP1, SP2 and SP3 stabilized; SP4, in expansion; SP6, new and in expansion; SP5x xScale — all owned
• Rio de Janeiro (3): RJ1 (leased), RJ2 (owned, subject to a long-term ground lease) and RJ3 (owned, expansion phase)
• Santiago (4): ST1, ST3 and ST4, stabilized; ST2, in expansion — all owned
• Mexico City (2): MX1, stabilized; MX2, in expansion — both owned
• Monterrey (2): MO1, stabilized (leased); MO2, in expansion (owned)
• Bogotá (2): BG1, stabilized; BG2, in expansion — both owned
• Lima (1): LM1, stabilized — owned

(The original version of this content was written in Portuguese)