ALOG to build new IBX in Rio de Janeiro and expand in Sao Paulo to meet demand for interconnection and data center services in South America.

Equinix, Inc., a provider of global data center services, yesterday announced that ALOG Data Centers of Brazil S.A., a Platform Equinix Company, plans to build a new International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in Rio de Janeiro. Targeted to open in the first quarter of 2013, the first phase is expected to cost $20 million in expansion capital and will have space for 320 cabinets with a total capacity of 1,170 cabinets once all future phases are completed. The company also announced ALOG will begin construction on phase two of its SP2 data center in Sao Paulo, which is expected to be available in early 2013. SP2 phase two will have space for an additional 350 cabinets and is expected to cost $14 million in expansion capital.

The company mentions that it and Riverwood Capital completed the acquisition of ALOG in April 2011, and the company holds the controlling interest and sits on the board of directors of ALOG. With its investment in ALOG, it offers colocation, interconnection and managed hosting services from its three existing Brazil-based IBX data centers in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. The new IBX, RJ2, will be ALOG's second facility in the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. The company is seeing increased demand from multi-national customers, particularly in the financial services, networking and content industries, who are expanding in the South American market. According to Frost & Sullivan, the Brazilian government expects GDP to grow three to three-and-a-half percent and expects six percent growth in the IT sector in 2012.

"As the seventh largest economy in the world, Brazil is experiencing continued economic and infrastructure expansion, making it an attractive country for multi-national investment," said Charles Meyers, President of the Americas for Equinix. "With the expansions in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, we are in a strong position to support increasing demand for Platform Equinix from key global customers looking to expand in the region."