DE-CIX's Frankfurt data center believes it is the first Internet exchange to offer 400 Gigabit Ethernet access.

The German Internet exchange plans to roll out the fast network technology to more locations in the near future.

DE-CIX
– DE-CIX

A world first

The speed upgrade uses the DE-CIX Apollon platform, which features Nokia routers as a core component. The 400GbE Nokia line cards are now available in DE-CIX Frankfurt, the Internet exchange with the highest peak traffic in the world.

“Within the next few years, we expect the 400 GbE access technology to become the new gold standard for customers with commensurate broadband needs,” Eric Dorr, head of infrastructure at DE-CIX, said.

100 GbE access technology was first introduced in 2013 and has been increasingly adopted in recent years. As a result, in 2018, orders of 100 GbE ports at DE-CIX grew by almost 45 percent in comparison to 2017.

Founded in 1995, DE-CIX serves over 1,500 carriers, ISPs and content networks from more than 100 countries.

DE-CIX took the German government to court in 2016 over claims that Germany’s foreign intelligence agency - the BND - intercepted and copied all the traffic going into the company’s Frankfurt data center since 2009.

Last June, the German courts dismissed DE-CIX’s case claiming that the company was not directly affected by the BND’s operations. The court also said that the legality of the surveillance was a concern for the federal government, not DE-CIX.