The growing sophistication and data intensity of emerging technologies is fueling growth of carrier-neutral internet exchanges (IXs) that support multiple providers, according to a report by DE-CIX.
The firm, which is an IX, estimates in their report that 80% of internet exchanges in the U.S. — including 35 of the 50 largest — are carrier-neutral. The study points to generative AI, gaming, high-resolution streaming, IoT applications and other cloud-based applications as drivers of the transition.
“The past decade has demonstrated the immense value of the neutral and distributed model for driving digital growth in the US market,” DE-CIX CEO Ivo Ivanov said in a statement about the report.
“The study shows that these IXs, which follow the European model of neutrality, are not only future-proof, but essential to support the emerging needs of cloud computing, AI, and IoT to enable extremely low latency connectivity for critical current and future use cases.”
The firm reports tremendous growth — 600% — in data internet exchanges during the past decade. The study said that the carrier-neutral platforms among the 50 largest IXs in the U.S. average 11 connected facilities that are operated by at least two independent data center operators within a metro area. Conversely, data center/carrier-operated IXs have an average of three facilities operated by one operator within a metro area, the firm said.
An effort is underway to measure exactly how big the growth of data centers is. The National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA), working with the Department of Energy, has issued a Call for Comments to look at several issues related to the growth and changing nature of data centers.
