MONTGOMERY – Last year, the City of Montgomery, the Montgomery County Commission and River Region leaders celebrated the launch of Alabama’s first internet exchange, the Montgomery Internet Exchange, or MGMix. Today, near the eve of its first anniversary, the MGMix welcomed a new high stakes partner with international ties.
Hurricane Electric, a global internet service provider considered one of the catalysts creating the “backbone” of the internet, announced today it establish a Point of Presence (POP) in Montgomery, Ala., by connecting to the MGMix, an open exchange led by a visionary collaboration among Montgomery County, The City of Montgomery, research universities, Maxwell Gunter Air Force Base and the new Cyber College of the Air Force.
“Today is another milestone in the short but prolific history of the Montgomery Internet Exchange,” Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange said. “We cannot overstate the significance it will continue to play in expanding industry by putting Montgomery on the map – literally, on the map of global internet exchange points, while providing the infrastructure needed to attract new businesses, more opportunities and a climate conducive to further expansion and growth.”
Located in the Retirement Systems of Alabama’s Dexter Avenue Datacenter, MGMix is a joint venture that will dramatically boost internet speeds for partnering Internet Service Providers, improve connectivity among Alabama’s research universities and colleges and expand data capacity. MGMix is only one of four internet exchange points in the Southeast. It will also speed content delivery to those in the River Region and beyond by storing it closer to home, rather than pulling it from exchanges located in other parts of the country.
“Internet traffic will flow through Montgomery, and with this traffic comes opportunity for growth and expansion in the IT sector,” Montgomery City-County Chief Information and Technology Director Lou Ialacci said. “Our plan is to continually attract new businesses who want to connect and create a presence at the MGMix and in the River Region as a whole.”
Tenants at the RSA Dexter Avenue Data Center now have the ability to exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric’s vast global network. Hurricane Electric has over 17,000 BGP sessions with over 6,000 different networks via more than 155 major exchange points and thousands of customer and private peering ports. The new Montgomery PoP will also provide access to the company’s extensive network through 100GE (100 Gigabit Ethernet), 10GE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and GigE (1 Gigabit Ethernet) ports and as a result, both new and existing customers will be able to experience increased throughput, reduced latency and improved reliability.
“Hurricane Electric is delighted to extend its global network to help support the many businesses and government organizations that make up Montgomery’s economy,” said Mike Leber, President, Hurricane Electric. “As Alabama steadily cultivates a growing IT industry, we’ve seen a strong rise in demand for affordable high-speed Internet transit in the state. Hurricane Electric looks forward to providing the IP services that this sector needs to compete in both the domestic and international marketplaces.”
Visit www.mgmix.net to learn more about the MGMix, its members and capabilities.
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