Cloud, connectivity and content business GBI (Gulf Bridge International) has expanded its footprint at Equinix’s (Nasdaq: EQIX) Oman data centre.

The new deployment at the Equinix MC1 International Business Exchange (IBX) in Muscat has been designed to enhance GBI’s IP Transit and Cloud Connect products and provide customers with greater connectivity throughout the Middle East and onwards.

Equinix MC1 IBX is a carrier-neutral hub in Oman and one of the largest in the region, where carriers, cloud providers and content providers can collocate critical IT infrastructure.

It serves as a regional interconnection hub providing ultra-low latency connection points between key global business markets. For GBI this means improved quality of its IP Transit and Cloud Connect products.

Brendan Press, CCO of GBI, said: “Recent Equinix research shows almost two-thirds (60%) of digital leaders in the UAE have accelerated their digital transformation plans, all of which has to be underpinned by reliable and trusted connectivity. As such, GBI’s presence at the Equinix MC1 datacentre will be highly valuable.

“It is important to be building on our relationship so we can offer customers the lowest latency access to secure cloud services in the region; it will bolster our IP Transit and Cloud Connect products to serve customer’s digital transformation needs.”.

Cengiz Oztelcan, CEO of GBI, added: “GBI has been connected to Equinix datacentres in Amsterdam and Frankfurt since 2015 and we’re excited to be taking our partnership to the next level. Together we are fully committed to serving our Gulf and Middle Eastern customers and the MC1 datacentre will help the region thrive.”

Kamel Al-Tawil, Managing Director for Middle East and North Africa at Equinix, said: “Putting digital infrastructure at the centre of the business strategy requires the support of a dynamic digital infrastructure.

“Businesses need a simple way to bring together digital infrastructure that encompasses a choice of multiple providers, distributed geographies and hybrid multicloud architectures.”