AMS-IX USA Inc. to deploy an Open-IX Internet Exchange in New York

AMS-IX will also deploy distributed Internet Exchanges in the Chicago and Silicon Valley markets, which are currently planned to go live in respectively the first and second quarter of 2014. This new business initiative is a response to the certification process by the Open-IX Association for the setup of neutral and distributed Internet Exchanges in the United States.

In all three markets, AMS-IX will deploy an Internet Exchange spanning several locations with an initial deployment of AMS-IX New York in Digital Realty and DuPont Fabros Technology data centers in New York (111 8th) and New Jersey (101 Possumtown Road, Piscataway) respectively. Depending on the market demand and the willingness of other data center providers to partner with AMS-IX, additional locations may be added. For the AMS-IX New York Internet Exchange the other two locations that have been selected are Sabey Data Centers’ new Intergate.Manhattan at 375 Pearl Street and the newly opened 325 Hudson interconnection facility. More locations will follow at a later stage. AMS-IX strongly believes that a distributed exchange model offers the best value by enabling a choice of connectivity options in as many data center locations as makes business sense. In Amsterdam, the AMS-IX exchange platform is currently distributed over 12 different data centers serving well over 600 IP networks from around the globe, making it the largest Internet Exchange in the world.

Open-IX is an initiative started by a group of Internet network operators, content owners and distributors and other market parties, such as data centers, that encourages the development of the neutral and distributed Internet Exchange model in North America. This group formed the Open-IX Association and instated an interim board following the launch of the initiative in August of this year.

Internet Exchange operators and data center companies such as AMS-IX, Digital Realty and DuPont Fabros Technology, will be reviewed against the technology standards set by the Open-IX community. The Open-IX framework ensures future continuity of the neutral governance model and the technical compliance of any participating Internet Exchange. The ultimate objective of Open-IX is to reduce interconnection complexity and the associated costs in North America, which have been more complex and higher than in Europe, where the neutral and distributed Internet Exchange model is very common. As the business initiative of AMS-IX, Digital Realty and DuPont Fabros Technology fits the Open-IX framework, all parties expect to be certified by the association when the process commences.

AMS-IX’s Chief Executive Officer Job Witteman says: "The opportunity to start neutral, distributed Internet Exchanges in the US with the endorsement of the Open-IX community fits our strategy of building Internet Exchanges in connectivity hub locations around the world. We believe the model will bring the North American IP interconnection market tremendous value by decreasing complexity as well as the associated costs. AMS-IX is committed to bringing about this market transformation, and is pleased to have found initial partners in two major market participants Digital Realty and DuPont Fabros Technology. "

"We are pleased to be collaborating with AMS-IX on this important initiative," said Michael F. Foust, Chief Executive Officer at Digital Realty. "By helping establish a truly open Internet Exchange environment, we are supporting the Open-IX community's desire for neutral exchanges that are more efficient and cost-effective than those available today. The end result for our customers will be access to enhanced interconnectivity and Internet peering capabilities."

Hossein Fateh, President and Chief Executive officer of DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. commented: “Building upon our carrier-neutrality principle, we are glad to support the Open-IX Association and encourage the deployment of the AMS-IX New York Internet Exchange in our Piscataway NJ1 data center. The AMS-IX Internet Exchange at NJ1 will complement the network providers and the New York Stock Exchange currently providing connectivity services to our customers. We expect our customers to benefit from this open Peering and Interconnectivity environment”.

John Sabey, President of Sabey Data Centers, stated: “We are very happy to partner with AMS-IX New York on this important market-changing initiative. Offering more choice in the New York City market to carriers and customers is good for everyone.”