UAE-IX Internet Exchange Announces Record Growth

FRANKFURT, GERMANY--(Marketwired - Sep 5, 2013) - DE-CIX, the world's leading Internet Exchange operator headquartered in Frankfurt am Main (Germany), announces record growth of the UAE-IX, an Internet exchange serving the Middle East. Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), UAE-IX is fully operated by DE-CIX and serves both customers from the region and global players.

One year after the launch of this first neutral Internet Exchange platform, UAE-IX already serves more than 20 networks from the region. Customers include leading global players and providers from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and Turkey. Recent new peers include STC and Vodafone Qatar, further increasing the reach of the exchange.

UAE-IX's customer base now reaches 55% of all eyeballs in the GCC markets. This makes UAE-IX the partner of choice for a wide variety of providers, including access networks, cloud computing players, hosters and content delivery networks (CDNs).

UAE-IX was the first carrier-neutral Internet exchange for the Middle East and is built on a fully redundant switching platform, making it a fast and cost-effective exchange point. First initiated by the UAE's Telecommunication Regulatory Authority (TRA) and powered by DE-CIX, UAE-IX delivers a highly reliable regional ecosystem in which carriers can exchange traffic and establish settlement-free peering relationships.

"In the past, Internet content destined for the Middle East region was delivered through European Internet hubs," comments Harald A. Summa, CEO for DE-CIX. "Cloud computing and rich media content drives today's traffic growth, demanding higher-quality content that is located close to the users to guarantee a great broadband experience. The TRA, the data center operators and UAE-IX together create an attractive environment to drive large content networks to the region, while access providers benefit from lower cost and improved broadband experience for their end-users."

About UAE-IX
The UAE-IX in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), is a carrier-neutral Internet traffic exchange platform that interconnects global networks and, above all, network operators and content providers in the GCC region. The UAE-IX is managed by DE-CIX Management GmbH, one of the world's largest operators of Internet exchange points, based in Frankfurt, Germany. The UAE-IX is built on a fully redundant switching platform located in two carrier-neutral secure data centers in the International Media Production Zone (IMPZ) in Dubai. The UAE-IX reduces latency times by up to 80 per cent and costs by up to 70 per cent for GCC providers. Regional data travel a shorter distance, which dramatically improves the quality of the Internet experience for end-users. Further information is available at: www.uae-ix.net

About DE-CIX
Founded in 1995, DE-CIX in Frankfurt is the leading operator of Ethernet-based carrier and ISP interconnection (Peering) worldwide. DE-CIX facilitates the exchange of IP traffic between networks through a distributed, failsafe and scalable infrastructure in various metro markets across Germany and in the Middle East. This includes broadband networks, hosting providers, content providers and cloud computing players. More than 500 ISPs from over 50 countries use DE-CIX to handle a large fraction of their Internet traffic and make DE-CIX the world's largest interconnection facility that supports peering. DE-CIX's customer base includes the world's leading players, such as 1&1, Akamai, China Telecom, Facebook, Google and Telefonica.

The company began its international growth with the takeover in 2012 of the operations of UAE-IX in Dubai, UAE, the country's first carrier-neutral interconnection and peering platform. Further information is available at: www.de-cix.net.