Birmingham welcomes its first Internet Exchange
Proximity Data Centres has launched IX Birmingham, the first regional internet exchange in the heart of the West Midlands.
Located at Proximity’s Birmingham Edge 8 tier 3 data centre, IX Birmingham will allow businesses across the city and region to have access to higher-speed, lower latency connectivity options by eliminating the need to route all their data via exchanges in London and Manchester – local data stays local while other data can be accessed through traditional centralised internet exchanges.
Raj Mack, Birmingham City Council’s head of digital city and innovation, said: “I have long pushed for the establishment of an Internet Exchange in Birmingham, recognising that it is a key component of the digital infrastructure that our businesses need to create and accelerate new products and services. The IX Birmingham will greatly enhance the capability of the City as a leading international digital city and its reputation as Digital Birmingham.”
Tobias Hooten, managing director of Iconic Networks, a founding member of IX Birmingham, said: “The arrival of IX Birmingham is not only good news for businesses based in the city and wider region, it also allows local altnets and ISPs to benefit from lower cost data transit when backhauling rapidly growing data volumes. We are delighted to be a founder member and look forward to being a part of stimulating the local digital economy.”
IX Birmingham is aligned with Proximity’s strategy of rolling out a network of regional internet exchanges within its data centres across the UK and Europe.
Currently there are 10 Proximity edge data centres in the UK, located to conurbations and cities in the North, North West, Midlands, Thames Valley, South West and South Wales.
