We are excited to announce 2 expansions BaishanCloud has been working on this year. We have completed the addition of two more PoPs to our global edge infrastructure. These PoPs are located in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and Mandalay, Myanmar.
Riyadh is the capital of Saudi Arabia. The city’s name is derived from the plural of the Arabic Rawdah, meaning gardens or meadows. The spectacular sight of Riyadh from the air, illuminated in the evening by city lights, is reminiscent of its eponymous meadows: a bright sea of lights dots the desert as if fluorescent flower gardens have suddenly blossomed among its dark contours.
Our first Saudi Arabian location was in Jeddah. Bringing a second location to Saudi Arabia will provide us with even stronger coverage across the region. Saudi Arabia is a fast-growing country. In January 2021 there were 33.58 million internet users in Saudi Arabia. There were estimated to be 27.80 million social media users in Saudi Arabia in January 2021. The number of social media users in Saudi Arabia was equivalent to 79.3% of the total population of the country in January 2021. Mobile connectivity within the region in January 2021 numbered 39.53 mobile users or equivalent to 112.7% of the overall population (meaning 1.12 mobile-connected devices per person).
Mandalay is the second of BaishanCloud’s Myanmar locations. We previously entered Myanmar by building our initial PoP in Yangon.
Boosted by the COVID-19 lockdown, the Internet economy has been growing rapidly over the past couple of years in Southeast Asia. Southeast Asia is home to more than 350 million internet users. The Internet market is expected to triple in size over the next 5 years, reaching $300 billion by 2025. As a result of increased access to the Internet and a growing middle class, Southeast Asian countries are quickly adopting the use of e-commerce, social media, online travel, and live streaming in their daily lives. Like China, mobile is the primary means users access online content. Currently, more than 10 million Southeast Asians enter the “mobile age” every year.
Next steps:
BaishanCloud is regularly reviewing the needs of its customers, its global footprint, and its technical offerings. Over the course of this year, BaishanCloud intends on increasing its global infrastructure by adding PoPs in Argentina, Nigeria, Logos, Tunisia, Egypt Cairo, Iraq, Nepal, and Bahrain.
Our current and planned network map:
