Equinix eyes expansion of PHL data centers to meet rising demand

GLOBAL DIGITAL infrastructure firm Equinix, Inc. said it is ready to expand the capacity of its existing data centers in the Philippines to capture growing demand, noting that the country is strategically positioned to become a data center hub in Asia.

“What we are doing at the current time is continually assessing. What I can say is right now, we have every capability to support our customers’ current expansion needs in our existing data centers,” Equinix Vice-President for Growth and Emerging Markets in Asia-Pacific Max Parry said in a briefing on Thursday.

Equinix launched its Philippine operations in 2025 with the opening of three data centers in Cavite and Makati. The facilities were acquired a year earlier from Total Information Management Corp. (TIM), marking the company’s entry into the country’s fast-growing data infrastructure market.

The Philippines, Mr. Parry said, completes Equinix’s regional expansion following its operations in Malaysia and Indonesia, filling a missing piece in its Southeast Asia growth strategy.

Equinix’s facilities in the Philippines have about 35,000 square feet of colocation space, with a combined capacity of 1,000 data cabinets.

“It is a lot of optimism that we announced our investment into the Philippines last year. I think across Southeast Asia as a whole, the Philippines has a very strong and unique (role). We see the demand from global customers wanting to access the Philippine market,” he said.

Mr. Parry identified the diverse information technology-business process outsourcing (IT-BPO) industry as a catalyst for data center growth, alongside rising demand from the network, telecommunications, and banking sectors.

“The other thing which is very notable around our business here in the Philippines is the diversity of banking and financial services customers that call Equinix Philippines home. So, we have a lot for those banking customers,” he said.

Equinix’s data centers provide high-speed interconnection services, giving enterprises direct access to cloud platforms, artificial intelligence providers, and major network ecosystems through secure private links. Globally, the company operates more than 260 data centers across 70 markets.

“I think the Philippines is very strategically placed to do that. It’s a strategic location between the economies of Asia and the US market. I think that positions the Philippines well to occupy that data center hub position,” he said, adding that ongoing subsea connectivity projects in the Philippines would also drive growth.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) projects that the country’s data center capacity could reach 1.5 gigawatts (GW) by 2028, up from nearly 200 megawatts (MW) at present.

To achieve this target, the Philippines must also capitalize on the growth of its digital economy, which is expected to reach $36 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV) in 2025, according to a November report by Google, Temasek Holdings, and Bain & Company. The report projects the country’s overall digital economy could reach $70 billion to $140 billion in GMV by 2030, slightly lower than last year’s forecast of $80 billion to $150 billion.

“I think you’ve got the local strength in industry to be able to attract data center operators like us through the strength of the local market. Vibrant financial ecosystem, lots of foreign direct investment coming into manufacturing, one of the world’s leading IT BPO sectors. And as I said, increasingly, international organizations are looking towards the digital growth in the Philippines and wanting to be a part of it,” Mr. Parry said. — Ashley Erika O. Jose