US Companies Equinix And Astra Joint Venture To Build Data Center In Indonesia

Data Center illustration (Photo: Doc. Unsplash)

JAKARTA - Equinix (Bursa Nasdaq code EQIX), a digital world infrastructure company and PT Astra International Tbk (ASII) formed a joint venture to develop digital infrastructure in Indonesia. This is a necessity of domestic and multinational companies in accelerating digital transformation.

With the Government of Indonesia targeting as many as 30 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) to be able to go digital by 2024, Indonesia's national digital transformation program creates a framework for economic development and the need for digital infrastructure.

"The Indonesian government has a strong commitment to accelerate digital transformation throughout Indonesia," said Equinix Asia Pacific President Jeremy Deutsch in a statement, in Jakarta, Tuesday.

Equinix and Astra formed the joint venture with share capital ownership of 75 percent Equinix and 25 percent of Astra.

By combining Equinix's global-scale digital infrastructure expertise and Astra's extensive experience in Indonesia, this joint venture will help companies in Indonesia develop their digital capabilities and take advantage of new technologies, such as hybrid multicloud, 5G, internet of things (IoT), and artificial intelligence.

This joint venture with Astra utilizes digital potential that continues to increase and reflects the sustainability of Equinix's commitment to serving the Indonesian people with large-scale capacities to meet the needs of the computing, storage, and edge data center.

Astra President Director Djony Bunarto Tjondro said the collaboration with Equinix was based on Indonesia's digital economy growth and Astra's focus on accelerating its digital transformation.

With the provision of comprehensive data center services, which are more integrated, modern, accessible, and run with the spirit and principle of sustainability. "We hope that this joint venture will strengthen the data center infrastructure and help business people in Indonesia," he also said.

The plan is that in the early stages, this joint venture will develop and operate an International Business Exchange (IBX) data center in the center of Jakarta named JK1, then expand further in Indonesia.

The IBX JK1 data center consisting of eight floors is planned to start operating in the second half of 2024 and is expected to provide more than 1,600 cabinets and a colocation room of more than 5,300 square meters after being fully built.

Located in the Jakarta business center area and close to the main internet exchange, JK1 will assist domestic and multinational companies operating in Indonesia to achieve optimal performance through digital infrastructure and a dynamic ecosystem.

JK1 will include a sustainable concept in its design by utilizing innovative technologies, such as cooling Equinix arrays to support commercial targets and the company's environment in Indonesia.

Indonesia is expected to become the largest ASEAN colocation market in 2027 in line with significant retail demand for colocation, coupled with increased hyperscale activity. Indonesia's colocation market is estimated to be worth 1.2 billion US dollars by 2027.