DE-CIX Establishes New Internet Exchange at Interxion in Marseille

DE-CIX will open a new Internet exchange in the Interxion data center in Marseille, France, which will become operational in Q3 2015.
Marseille is one of the key European landing stations for a large number of international subsea cables and global Internet transit pathways. Importantly, Marseille is a critical gateway directly on the Mediterranean Sea for the communications infrastructure that transports African and Middle East traffic to Europe. The city also offers an existing framework inside the European Union that delivers a known regulatory and legal environment for business.
The Mediterranean and Africa are home to a population of hundreds of millions of people. Currently, primary Internet content sources for the region are located in Europe, the United States and Asia. While there are many initiatives underway to change this trend, they will take time to develop. The immediate need is to address rapidly growing volumes of Internet traffic in the region and to bring content closer to the end user for a better Internet experience.
“In Marseille, we are creating a new neutral Internet hub to improve the interconnection of African eyeball networks to regional and global content players,” states Harald A. Summa, DE-CIX President. “Marseille offers strong legal and regulatory infrastructure for this new exchange, an environment we know well and have successfully done business in for a long time. DE-CIX has extensive international experience building global hubs. At Interxion Marseille, we are developing an ideal framework that brings content closer to key transport pathways and the end user.”
“A thriving Internet exchange requires a neutral data center environment that is open to multiple networks and vendors, and provides access to the widest range of connectivity providers and services. The Interxion data center in Marseille meets all these requirements,” explains Fabrice Coquio, President Interxion France. “We have had a strong and successful partnership with the Internet exchange community for more than 15 years. The additional DE-CIX exchange in Marseille will be another opportunity to serve our customers and to strengthen the global Internet infrastructure and community together.”
Interxion has operated a data center in Marseille since 2014, when it acquired the facility from SFR. There are more than 8 subsea cables and 100 unique carriers that currently operate in or transport through Marseille.