Interxion creates ‘largest data hub’ in London

Interxion, a leading data centre colocation company, has created what the company calls London’s “largest and most highly connected data hub,” improving speed and reliability for customers in the London metro area.

The data hub was created by connecting eight London data centres owned and operated by Interxion with a 68-mile long, high-speed fibre cable. The new data hub connects facilities from the City financial district, to the London Docklands, West Drayton and West London. The company reportedly invested £1.1m in the project.

UK Minister for Media and Data, John Whittingdale, said that the new Interxion data hub was an investment in the future of London’s economy. “We want the UK to be the world’s number one data destination, so it’s great to see Interxion investing in our data infrastructure to give our tech sector a further boost to grow, create jobs and help power our recovery out of the pandemic.”

The increase in data demand across the UK was accelerated by the pandemic, but there are many factors that are expected to continue driving growth in the London data centre market. These include increased deployment of technologies like edge computing, IoT, and 5G; as well as regulatory changes affecting data compliance and privacy standards in the region. The government is also investing in smart city projects, further driving demand for increased data capabilities.

“By creating London’s largest and most highly connected data hub and linking sites from East to West London we’re unlocking digital growth for businesses,” added Assad Noori, UK Managing Director at Interxion.

Digital Realty recently completed their acquisition of Interxion, first announced in 2019. The $8.4bn, all-stock deal was the largest in the history of the data centre industry at the time. That record was broken when Blackstone announced a deal to acquire QTS Realty Trust for $10bn last month.

The company now owns and operates 285 data centres, across 47 metro areas worldwide, serving over 2000 customers. With the acquisition complete, Digital Realty CEO has become CEO of the combined company, while Interxion CEO David Ruberg has become CEO of the EMEA arm of ‘Interxion, a Digital Realty Company.’