CONTRIBUTED TO THE OBSERVER
AUBURN —
The city of Montgomery recently announced plans to extend its high-speed internet network to Auburn, Alabama.
This expansion will pave the digital path to cost-effective, efficient and accessible connectivity. The Montgomery Internet Exchange, MGMix, a peering network that supports internet service providers (ISP), will extend its network fabric to AUBix LLC, a mission-critical, multi-tenant data center in Auburn, Alabama.
“This is a step forward to achieving digital equity across the region, benefitting individuals who live in underserved rural communities,” said Steven Reed, mayor of the city of Montgomery. “By extending our network fabric to a data center in Auburn, the MGMix will improve the efficiency and resiliency of the internet for the Montgomery area, colleges and businesses along the I-85 corridor, and the entire River Region.”
Interconnecting high-speed internet, called “peering,” allows internet service providers to exchange traffic unabated. Extending the MGMix to the Auburn area saves money for local broadband networks and allows them to expand their service coverage area to offer more reliable internet access.
“The internet exchange in Auburn, AUBix, is proud to partner with the city of Montgomery to extend the MGMix peering to multiple internet service providers’ high-speed global backbones to connect to global enterprises, academia and content and gaming providers to quickly and easily exchange traffic,” said Andrew Albrecht, CEO of AUBix. “Peering typically produces a more direct path between two networks, thereby reducing the distance that data have to travel. The result is lower latency, higher speeds and an improved end-user experience.”
Peering has many advantages over its alternative, which is to purchase internet transit to carry data traffic. In many cases, network traffic has to travel hundreds of miles to reach large metropolitan markets. The advantages of peering include:
• Efficiency: Peering creates a better, more open internet while allowing ISPs to deliver better service to end users.
• Resiliency: Businesses and consumers are no longer limited to one local network which is responsible for distributing or receiving all their data traffic.
• Cost-effectiveness: Peering is much more cost-effective than paying one or more networks to carry traffic while delivering higher speeds and quality of service.
• Competition: Internet exchanges tend to be hubs for competition by increasing internet speed. Customers can connect and peer at speeds ranging from 1 Gbps to 100+ Gbps.
“Broadband is a hot topic and a priority in the 21st century,” said Auburn Mayor Ron Anders. “Auburn has long worked to provide options for its residents, recruiting as many broadband providers locally as the market will allow. We’re proud to have AUBix here in Auburn improving the local digital infrastructure.
“Peering with the Montgomery Internet Exchange helps major players from Amazon to Netflix deliver excellent local performance while providing business growth and a direct connection to enterprises locally and customers around the world. This is a win for Auburn, Montgomery and the entire region.”
ABOUT MGMIX
The Montgomery Internet Exchange (MGMix) is an open exchange led by a visionary collaboration among the city of Montgomery, Montgomery County and Maxwell Air Force Base.
ABOUT AUBIX
AUBix LLC is a multi-tenant, mission-critical data center that will help bring technology parity to underserved communities in Alabama. The secure, compliant infrastructure will boost efficiency and cost-effectiveness, with carrier-neutral services and deep technology expertise. AUBix is expected to be an economic catalyst for the regions and communities it serves, enabling digital transformation for businesses, supporting health care, finance, manufacturing and academia, and providing access to high-speed internet. www.aubix.net