Connected Nation, DE-CIX Launch IXP at Wichita State

In an announcement yesterday, DE-CIX and Connected Nation Internet Exchange Points celebrated the groundbreaking of an IXP. The new interconnection point will on the Innovation Campus of Wichita State University and could be a blueprint of things to come. The new infrastructure aims to reduce latency and enable next generation AI infrastructure down the line.

We had CNIXP’s Hunter Newby here for an interview not so long ago to talk about this exact type of deployment. The thesis is that the ecosystem of interconnection can come to rural broadband if you can put the right pieces in place. Those looking to connect rural areas often have trouble building both the retail last mile and the wholesale middle mile ecosystem needed to reach the rest of the internet.

The recipe Hunter described was for CNIXP to build colo alongside a well connected anchor institution such as a university, and to partner with DE-CIX to operate an IXP out of it. The university can then act as a technology leader for the region around them not just for things like education and research, but as the conduit to the broader national infrastructure ecosystem.

Just under two years later we have the start of the first such facility at Wichita State. Now we get to see how the business model works for all those involved, and the proof will be whether this sort of thing is replicated on a wider scale.

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Categories: Interconnection