Connected Nation and Wichita State University (WSU) last week broke ground on Kansas’ first carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point (IXP).

The facility, located directly across East 21st Street from WSU’s Eck Stadium in Wichita, is being developed by Connected Nation Internet Exchange Points, LLC – a joint venture between Connected Nation and Telx co-founder Hunter Newby.

“This groundbreaking marks a transformative step forward for Kansas’s digital future,” said Tom Ferree, chairman & CEO, Connected Nation. “With this IXP, we’re building more than just a facility—we’re building the foundation for faster, more affordable, and more secure Internet across the region.”

The project has been partly funded by a $5 million grant awarded by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly in 2023 as part of a wider $28.5 million high-speed Internet infrastructure package. Construction is expected to be completed in early 2026.

Facility details weren’t shared, but the IXP will feature redundant power systems and be expandable in a modular fashion. Renderings suggest the site will feature a rooftop solar system. The facility’s Internet Exchange (IX) platform will be managed in collaboration with DE-CIX.

“Future AI applications will require real-time responsiveness—whether in healthcare, autonomous transportation systems, smart manufacturing, or a myriad of other contexts. They can’t tolerate the delays associated with routing data through distant cities,” said Hunter Newby, co-founder, CNIXP. “Local, carrier-neutral IXPs like the one we’re building in Wichita are essential to reducing lag time and enabling the next generation of AI-powered services to operate effectively and reliably.”

The facility is being built on WSU land, which approved a 40-year ground lease for the site in December 2023.

“This partnership reflects Wichita State’s commitment to innovation, economic development, and serving the needs of our state,” said Dr. Richard Muma, president, Wichita State University. “Hosting Kansas’s first Internet Exchange Point across from our Innovation Campus will not only benefit our students and faculty but also provide critical infrastructure to support business, research, and community growth across the region.”

Carrier hotel pioneer Newby’s Newby Ventures teamed with non-profit organization Connected Nation in 2023 to build and operate Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in communities that don't currently have spaces for carrier-neutral connectivity. At launch, the companies said they were targeting more than 125 communities across 43 states and 4 US territories; the list included 14 states that currently have no carrier-neutral connectivity point at all.

The Wichita facility is seemingly the first IXP to break ground under the joint venture.

Newby told DCD in a podcast interview that fundamentally, US broadband is held back by a lack of neutral connectivity space: "The problem with rural broadband in America isn't broadband," he said. "The problem isn't fiber or even a lack of neutral real estate. All of those networks have to have a place to physically go, where content, cloud, and gaming can reside."

Newby pioneered the concept of meet-me-rooms in carrier hotels when he was at Telx, a service provider bought by Digital Realty for $1.9 billion in 2019.