Proximity Data Centres chosen to deploy Birmingham's first Internet Exchange

Proximity Data Centres, has announced IX Birmingham, which is the first regional internet exchange in the West Midlands. IX Birmingham will be located at Proximity's Birmingham Edge 8 tier 3 data center, and facilitate high-speed, lower latency connectivity options. Raj Mack, Head of Digital City and Innovation, shared that the release is a long time in the making, having pushed for the establishment of an Internet Exchange in Birmingham for some time. He said he recognized it as being a key component of the digital infrastructure that businesses need to "create and accelerate" new products and services. "The IX Birmingham will greatly enhance the capability of the City as a leading international digital city and its reputation as Digital Birmingham," he said.

Meanwhile, Peter Bishop, Director for Digital and Customer Services at Birmingham City Council, commented that the council welcomes what he called an "exciting initiative" in line with its vision for creating new innovative opportunities that maximize the use of digital technologies and the skills and capabilities of its citizens and local businesses. "Working closely with Proximity's Edge IX division, we aim to ensure digital businesses including those in the creative, healthcare and manufacturing industries are no longer disadvantaged by the absence of an internet exchange on their doorstep," Bishop added.

Tobias Hooten, Managing Director of Iconic Networks, a founding member of IX Birmingham, said it would benefit a wide cross-section, including businesses based in the city and wider region. He added that it also allows local altnets and ISPs to benefit from lower-cost data transit when backhauling rapidly growing data volumes.

John Hall, Managing Director-Colocation, Proximity Data Centres, commented that the company chose Birmingham as its first Edge IX location as the region's digital community has remained "underserved" when it comes to the lowest latency solutions possible for sending or receiving data.