Driven by demand from customers across the enterprise, cloud, network, digital media and finance sectors, the build-out adds 4,000 square meters of data center space with capacity for 1,400 cabinets. The expansion also features 130 dedicated Business Continuity Trading desks, providing comprehensive connectivity-rich emergency trading capabilities for financial services firms. The LD5 expansion represents a strategic addition to the Platform Equinixglobal footprint of IBX data centers, helping businesses to rapidly deploy on a scalable platform while maintaining performance, reliability, security and network choice.

Once the fourth and final phase of the build-out is completed, LD5 will provide 16,000 square meters of customer space, with capacity for 5,600 cabinets in total. The LD4/LD5 facilities are located on the same campus and are Equinix's first data centers built completely from the ground up in Europe. Connected by more than 1,000 diverse dark fiber links into Central London with global access to more than 900 network providers, the LD5 facility enables customers to exchange business information and expand their IT infrastructure.

The BCTR offering provides financial customers with dedicated, fully operational trading and trade support capabilities with backup and recovery facilities to safeguard mission-critical trading operations. Equipped with multiple monitors, workstations and specialised trading phones with voice recording and numerous market data feeds, Equinix's BCTR offering provides clients with the flexibility to address any infrastructure demands or risk profiles.

Based in Slough, just outside of London, the BCTR facilities are close enough for trading staff to access quickly, but located outside the metropolitan area to comply with regulatory guidelines for disaster recovery and continuity of operations. For trading firms, the proximity of LD4/LD5 to the transatlantic network cable landing station also provides a very fast connection between London and North American financial markets like New York and Chicago, which reduces trading latency. The new BCTR offering in London expands upon currently available BCTR offerings in Hong Kong, Frankfurt, Munich, Dusseldorf, Milan, New York and Sao Paulo.

"Our LD5 expansion sits in one of the largest and fastest growing data center markets in the world, with increasing customer demand for capacity. This facility allows us to offer highly resilient and secure colocation facilities and to add sector-specific enhancements and features as we go," said Russell Poole, managing director, Equinix UK. "Financial market participants and service providers are key growth drivers currently, and they are experiencing growing regulatory pressure to put business continuity capacity in place. This is why our latest build-out features are what we believe is the most comprehensive and best-connected business continuity offering in the London market today."