The ECIX Story — All About our Peering Customers

When building ECIX, we have always been driven by customer and internet industry requirements. It’s our customers that are the driving force behind our decisions to expand the ECIX footprint and services.

Ultimately, we entered into this acquisition to provide our peering partners, and the internet industry, a greater future, and access to a network outside of our existing market. We didn’t make the conscious decision to be a disruptive brand. When we realised there was a monopoly or an imbalance in the market, we decided to challenge it in our own way. This meant listening to the industry and going to locations and markets where peers needed us to go. Ultimately, our footprint grew as a result of clear demand.

Our peers approached us about an interconnection market in Frankfurt that struggled with lack of competition. The peering community was asking for truly neutral and cost effective interconnection options. In Munich we stepped in to revive INXS, the oldest IXP in Germany, as both existing IXPs in this metro had ceased to perform effectively. We listened and responded to this request.

From the beginning of ECIX, the people who make up our community have been our number one priority and we guarantee that they will remain our top priority. Now that we’re backed and supported by Megaport, we have the ability to move faster and offer even better services. Members can get much more out of the exchange than they ever have before. Without this support, we would not have had a growth of services such as this on our roadmap.

We can now realise a brilliant future of interconnectivity which remains in the hands of the ECIX team. Stefan, Aydin, and I will remain with ECIX even as we join the Megaport family. We’re the same people with the same grounded values and we will continue to run the business the way that our customers appreciate. We understand the value in building communities locally, so we will proceed running one exchange per city and encourage local interconnection. We will enable members to connect to other communities while retaining their individuality.

This means five unique exchanges, not just one big one across Germany. And what about potential expansion? We will continue to listen and respond to those that have helped us get to where we are: our customers and evaluate new places to bring ECIX services. And we will do that with the help of Megaport by our side. I hope to see you at the European Peering Forum!