Digital Realty (NYSE: DLR), the largest global provider of cloud- and carrier-neutral data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions, today announced a signed memorandum of understanding (MoU) with EXA Infrastructure (EXA), the largest dedicated digital infrastructure platform connecting Europe and North America. The strategic collaboration will facilitate the expansion of EXA’s fiber infrastructure to Digital Realty’s data centers across the Mediterranean region, bolstering its connectivity infrastructure.

Following EXA’s recent deployments in Digital Realty’s sites in Dublin, Paris and Zagreb, Digital Realty's relationship with EXA has grown to 14 metros globally, enabling the business to deploy its services in multiple markets and place infrastructure next to major peering points across Europe and the US. The signed MoU signals for the future expansion to new markets across the Mediterranean, including Barcelona, Heraklion in Crete, Athens, as well as other locations where Digital Realty has announced land acquisitions and future constructions of new data centers.

“We’re delighted to expand our strategic partnership with Digital Realty to further enhance connectivity between data centers across Europe and North America with the Mediterranean a key and strategic location to this growth plan,” said Steve Roberts, Vice President Network Investments at EXA Infrastructure. “EXA is continually enhancing our network through investments and partnerships to ensure we’re at the forefront of powering our customers’ connectivity through diversifying our network and servicing traffic demands.”

Digital Realty’s investments in carrier-neutral colocation facilities in the Mediterranean are aligned with the expansion of EXA’s terrestrial and submarine fiber optic cable system, bringing together new capacity, additional diversity, and increased resilience across the region. Through the extension of this strategic partnership, enterprises and service providers will be able to seamlessly interconnect and serve the Mediterranean region in a more efficient manner while expanding their digital services to new geographies.

The Mediterranean region plays a key role in the global digital economy, with new aligned investments in data centers, terrestrial networks, and submarine cable systems interconnecting Europe with the Americas to the west, Africa to the south, and the Middle East and Asia to the east. Telegeography notes that international bandwidth in southern Europe has seen over 30% compound annual growth since 2016, representing an overall increase in transmission capacity to the region of almost 200%. 

Jan-Pieter Anten, Co-Managing Director EMEA, Digital Realty commented: “The need to exchange data has resulted in the Mediterranean region establishing itself as a critical area of interconnectivity between Europe and the rest of the world through its highly connected network of subsea cables. The signing of this MoU bolsters our strategic relationship with EXA Infrastructure and represents a crucial step forward in the expansion of PlatformDIGITAL® coverage in the region, further supporting our customers in deploying their critical services via Digital Realty’s orchestration platform ServiceFabric™ across the Mediterranean and around the world as the need for data-driven services continues to ramp up globally.”