IX Manchester

MANCHESTER GETS A NEW INTERNET EXCHANGE - Important move along the road to progress

M247 , together with other major players from the Internet industry, such as the BBC, IXReach and TelecityGroup, is co-sponsoring and supporting the launch event of IX Manchester, the UK’s newest Internet Exchange Point (IXP).

The launch of this strategically important IX Manchester, which takes place on Tuesday 24th April 2012 at Media City UK in Manchester, follows months of planning after an inaugural meeting took place at the Trafford Park head office of M247 on Friday 20th January

Many major capital cities in the connected world have such Internet Exchanges and it’s a mark of Manchester’s importance that this kind of thing is even possible at all since the viability of an IXP is totally dependent on fast and resilient networks being already in existence in the Manchester region.

IX Manchester is being launched by LINX, who are providing the equipment, technical backing and administration for the exchange. LINX is one of the largest Internet Exchange Points in the world. LINX was established in 1994 with a mandate to keep Internet traffic local to the UK rather than go halfway around the world and back. The exponential growth of the Internet since then means that IX Manchester is set to be the first of several regional peering points established by LINX around the country.

The Internet is woven inextricably into most people’s lives now and all of the important UK businesses and organisations totally depend on fast, reliable networks. The establishment of IX Manchester represents an important step along the road to improving the speed and reliability of services; just the sort of improvements necessary to cope with the anticipated increased demand during the forthcoming Olympic Games. Everyone sponsoring and supporting the launch of IX Manchester will have a vested interest in connecting to the Exchange as it will significantly benefit them in terms of network traffic costs, bandwidth and speed.

Chris Byrd, Technical Director of M247 says “since mooting the idea of this Exchange with our industry colleagues we have had very positive interest and support. Everyone instantly recognised the value of getting this off the ground and M247 has everything already in place to turn this into a reality. Since establishing ourselves in Manchester in 2008 M247 has been instrumental in developing part of the resilient Manchester Metropolitan Ring network and last year we established an important link that connects Manchester directly with Europe, by-passing London altogether should there ever be a strategic need to do so”.

John Souter, CEO of LINX says "Manchester already has a thriving Internet community and is the natural location for LINX to launch its first region peering point. In launching IX Manchester before the 2012 Olympic Games we expect to see some immediate benefits for members connected to the exchange over this period".

At the launch event, visitors will be able to learn more about the LINX regional peering initiative and why regional IXPs are important.