DE-CIX today announced that the company will open a new Internet exchange in the Interxion data center in Marseille, France, which will become operational in Q3 2015. DE-CIX is a provider of Internet exchange (IX) services that operates carrier-neutral and independent exchanges internationally.

Marseille is one of the key European landing stations for a large number of international subsea cables and global Internet transit pathways, and is a critical gateway to the Mediterranean Sea for the communications infrastructure that transports African and Middle East traffic to Europe. The city also offers an existing framework inside the European Union that delivers a regulatory and legal environment for business.

At the moment primary Internet content sources for the region are located in Europe, the United States and Asia. While there are some initiatives underway to change this trend, they will take time to develop.

Traffic growing

The immediate need which DE-CIX hopes to address is the growing volume of nternet traffic in the region. It also has to bring content closer to the end user for a better Internet experience.

Harald Summa, president of DE-CIX said “In Marseille, we are creating a new neutral Internet hub to improve the interconnection of African eyeball networks to regional and global content players. Marseille offers strong legal and regulatory infrastructure for this new exchange, an environment we know well and have successfully done business in for a long time. DE-CIX has extensive international experience building global hubs.”

A thriving Internet exchange

Fabrice Coquioc, president of Interxion France added: “A thriving Internet exchange requires a neutral data center environment that is open to multiple networks and vendors, and provides access to the widest range of connectivity providers and services. 

“We have had a strong and successful partnership with the Internet exchange community for more than 15 years. The additional DE-CIX exchange in Marseille will be another opportunity to serve our customers and to strengthen the global Internet infrastructure and community together.”

Interxion has operated a data center in Marseille since 2014, when it acquired the facility from SFR. There are approximately eight subsea cables and 100 unique carriers that currently operate in or transport through Marseille.