MIXthe main public Internet exchange point, activates two points of presence, a Rome and Caserta, in response to the needs of TLC operators in the center and south of the country.
The two new PoPs are part of the national expansion process approved by the MIX Board of Directors and undertaken starting from 2017 with the inauguration of the PoP of Palermo which was followed, in 2022, by that of Bologna. This development has been favored on the one hand by the need to facilitate and encourage the exchange of data at a local level, offering optimal solutions for connecting content and service providers that require reduced access times and, on the other hand, by the availability increasingly high-performance and high-speed access technologies.
The PoPs of Rome and Caserta are configured to all intents and purposes as independent Internet Exchanges and will be hosted in third-party data centers, characterized by a high level of reliability and above all equipped with large spaces capable of immediately hosting dozens of operators. In fact, with the opening of the regional IXs, MIX has decided to focus decisively on the enhancement of local initiatives, forging commercial alliances with data center providers. To this end, once the local partner with high growth potential has been identified, know-how and relationships are shared with the top market players to create the right conditions to invite these large players to interconnect locally. The ultimate goal is, in fact, to encourage the creation of more delocalized communities of interests but supported by the presence of the point of presence of an IX.
Activated two new points of presence
In the new point of presence in Rome, alongside the local Exchange, the Milan LAN will also be made optionally available for small and medium-sized operators, who will thus be able to connect immediately to a further 260 networks currently present only in Milan. In the case of Caserta, these become 380, always in addition to the local interchange point which, of course, will develop over time.
MIX continues its mission of contributing to the development of a more performing, efficient Internet with more advantageous traffic costs for operators. For this reason, on the strength of the experience in the Caldera DC, favorable conditions have been agreed with the Data Centers that host the points of presence to host small TLC PoPs, typically required by smaller operators.
Cristiano Zanforlin, Chief Commercial Officer MIX
We want to bring a new IX-Data Center partnership model, widely tested with the Data Centers of northern Italy, to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the market.
The area of Caserta and Naples had been under observation for several years, since it was the last in Europe characterized by a high population density and lacking a local IX. Until now, however, there were no suitable data center structures, in our opinion, to guarantee a 360° growth and no plans: as soon as these conditions arose, we did not hesitate to act.Conclude Alessandro Talotta, Executive President & Chairman MIX
By the end of the year, the central and southern part of the country will be able to count on two new data exchange points in the geographical area of Lazio and Campania, populated by around 12 million users and with an average consumption of download data usage equal to main European geographical areas with a high population density. The main objectives will be to improve the efficiency of data exchange and encourage the development and use of the Internet in Italy. The country must plan the exchange nodes considering not only their economic but also their social value; it is a service for the citizen so it must be transparent, efficient and available locally.