Equinix sees data center demand staying resilient

By Ashley Erika O. Jose, Reporter

GLOBAL DIGITAL infrastructure firm Equinix, Inc. expects the data center sector to remain resilient, with demand continuing to grow despite the ongoing conflict involving the United States, Israel, and Iran.

“Dramatic geopolitical change is nothing new. I think increasingly though, our global industry is understanding all the more clearly the need for resilience and redundancy in the infrastructures that we build to power the services which are so critical to our everyday lives today,” Equinix Vice-President for Growth and Emerging Markets in Asia-Pacific Max Parry said in a roundtable interview last week.

The company’s data center facilities in the Philippines are powered by renewable energy, he said, shielding them from potential price shocks as fuel costs soar, which could trigger higher electricity prices across the country.

“We are 100% covered by renewable energy, so there’s full confidence in this market from that perspective. We are continually innovating in that area to try and get our energy usage as optimal as possible.”

Oil companies this week rolled out staggered fuel pump price increases as global prices of the commodity have surged amid the conflict in Iran, which has led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, disrupting oil trade.

The Philippines is a net importer of oil and relies heavily on Middle East crude, which accounts for roughly 98% of its imports.

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

Mr. Parry said part of the company’s considerations for site selection is the availability of power and its ability to secure renewables to power its data center facilities as sustainable and reliable energy sources are considered crucial in their operations.

“[Power source] is important when we are looking for a site, it is also something which we focus on when we design and operate those sites,” he added.

Equinix has also expressed its optimism in the sector amid rising artificial intelligence adoption in the information technology-business process outsourcing industry, and the continued digitalization of the telecommunications and banking sectors.

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

Mr. Parry said they are ready to boost the capacity of their existing facilities in the country to capture growing demand, adding that its data centers, particularly those in Cavite, are equipped for any potential expansion.

The Department of Information and Communications Technology expects that the country’s data center capacity could reach 1.5 gigawatts by 2028 from nearly 200 megawatts at present.