Last June, Bell Canada Enterprises (BCE) sold 25 data centres held in 13 data centre sites for CA$1.04 billion to U.S. data centre company Equinix, raising a bunch of eyebrows, some questioning the wisdom in dropping more than a billion-dollar investment on a relatively small market.
“We think it’s a logical investment to bet big on the 10th largest economy in the world,” said Equinix Canada managing director Andrew Eppich in a previous interview. “Canada boasts very affordable electricity in certain provinces and, combined with a generally colder climate, spells out some easy benefits for Equinix, Eppich added.
But Canadian customers also deserved better, he said. The added horsepower from the acquisition will help facilitate customer needs to multiple languages, reach communities outside of the Greater Toronto Area. One of the lesser-discussed but perhaps equally important elements of the deal with Bell involves the addition of 160 employees and 600 customers according to Eppich.
Fawn Annan, president of ITWC, sat down with Eppich to talk about what matters most to Canadian customers these days and Equinix’s plans for the future during the latest episode of President to President.