Interxion France takes step forward to expand PlatformDIGITAL coverage and support customers in deploying critical infrastructure in leading digital gateway in Marseille.
Interxion, a leading European provider of carrier- and cloud-neutral colocation data centre solutions, has announced the start of construction for MRS4, its fourth data centre in Marseille. The continued development of the Marseille campus in France represents a strategic expansion of PlatformDIGITAL, a first of its kind global data centre platform for scaling digital business. When fully built out, the new site is expected to offer up to 13.6 megawatts (MW) of customer capacity and approximately 6,700m2 of total equipped space.
The expanded campus will allow customers to deploy their critical architecture with a single global provider in one of the world’s leading interconnection and content hubs. The connected data community in Marseille brings together key participants such as connectivity providers, hybrid IT providers and the submarine landing cable station and Internet hub.
As a result, customers in Marseille now have access to more than 700 providers on PlatformDIGITAL in EMEA alone. In 2020, participants in the company’s connected data communities more than doubled from 2,000 to 4,000+ globally.
Built on the Marseille Fos port, in the immediate vicinity of MRS2 and MRS3, MRS4 will benefit from the exceptional geographical location in the heart of the Mediterranean, as well as direct access to the submarine cable systems connected to Marseille. These capabilities make Marseille a gateway for telecom, cloud and digital access between Europe and other continents.
Interconnected to the other sites on Interxion’s Marseille campus, the addition of MRS4’s 6,700m² will provide customers with a total of 23,000m2 of equipped space in the city while focusing on the highest level of availability.
The design for MRS4 also incorporates industry best standards in terms of sustainable operations and energy efficiency. For example, an innovative river-cooling solution that uses a local renewable energy resource and is 30 times more energy efficient than a conventional cooling solution will be built. The data centre design is also in the process of receiving certification for the overall environmental performance of the building.
Once operational, MRS4 will be part of Digital Realty’s global commitment to reduce its direct emissions by 68% and its indirect emissions by 24% by 2030. The facility will also be integrated into Interxion France’s sustainable development commitment: since the end of 2020, all data centres in France have achieved carbon neutral (scope 1 and 2) status.
“To address the rapid digitisation of our economies and the growing wave of data creation, we continue to support the strong demand from content and cloud platforms on our global platform in Marseille. This metro is a particularly strategic location for customers who deliver these services and applications, as it offers unequalled performance not only for southern Europe, but also for Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the United States. This explains the success of Marseille, which is now one of the fastest growing digital hubs in the world,” said Jeff Tapley, Joint Managing Director EMEA, Interxion.
“Today, Marseille is the world’s ninth largest Internet hub, after Miami and ahead of Los Angeles in the US. Together with Paris, Marseille is strengthening the attractiveness of our region on the global digital map. MRS4 will support this development and the ambition to become one of the top five Internet hubs in the world within two years. This success, which is driving Marseille’s development and providing it with global visibility, comes with a sense of responsibility too, which is why we have paid particular attention to the design of the building, in terms of sustainability and playing our part in helping to make the port of Marseille more smart, digital and connected,” said Fabrice Coquio, Managing Director of Interxion France.
