18 October 2022

More bandwidth for Europe’s largest data hub: DE-CIX is first Internet Exchange worldwide to implement 800 Gigabit Ethernet technology

Frankfurt am Main, 18 October 2022: DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, announces today that DE-CIX Frankfurt, Europe’s largest Internet Exchange, has achieved warp speed, introducing blistering 800 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) access technology with new Nokia line cards, effective immediately. The turbo boost is being realized on the basis of the DE-CIX Apollon platform. The DE-CIX Apollon platform was implemented in Frankfurt in 2013 and was only upgraded to 400 GE technology in 2019. With this new expansion, DE-CIX is responding to the steadily growing customer demand for more bandwidth. Since the beginning of 2022, DE-CIX Frankfurt has been growing at an above-average rate. As a result, this year alone the data throughput at peak times – otherwise known as peak traffic – has increased by almost 30%. In the medium term, the 800 GE technology will also be used at other DE-CIX locations as required.

“With the introduction of 800 GE access technology, we once again underline our commitment to being a technology leader,” said Dr. Thomas King, Chief Technology Officer at DE-CIX. “We offer our customers the latest generation of hardware and a modern, scalable infrastructure that can cope with all future demands. At the same time, with the new technology we are supporting our customers’ growth. We have been working with Nokia for years and are excited to once again jointly push the limits of what’s technically possible.”

“We have been pleased to provide DE-CIX with our industry-leading IP technology for more than nine years,” said Rafael de Fermín, Senior Vice President of the Network Infrastructure business in Europe at Nokia. “Our research and pre-development is driven by fast growing and secure data throughput, as is the case with DE-CIX. Nokia is proud to be a DE-CIX partner in this regard and to enable the use of 800 GE routing technology. Last year, we jointly implemented the 7750 SR-s series at the Frankfurt site – and thanks to the 800 GE-capable Nokia line cards, DE-CIX can continue to ensure secure and sustainable growth of IP network capacity both now and in the future."

“We’re proud to have been able to call Nokia our partner for almost a decade now”, says Ivo Ivanov, CEO at DE-CIX. “This partnership enables us to bring the latest developments in technology to productive use as a first mover. The advent of the 800 GE era will enable enterprises and organizations connected to DE-CIX to develop innovative use cases as yet not even dreamt of!”

DE-CIX, operator of one of the world’s largest Internet Exchange, in Frankfurt, Germany, offers its interconnection services in more than 40 metro markets in Europe, Africa, North America, the Middle East, India, and Southeast Asia. As the world’s leading operator of Internet Exchanges and critical IT infrastructure, DE-CIX bears a great responsibility for the smooth, fast, and secure exchange of data between people, companies, and organizations at its global locations. The ongoing digitalization of business and society is leading to an increasing demand for seamless data exchange and secure data processing, close to end users.

Nokia and DE-CIX teams celebrate the 800GE implementation
Nokia and DE-CIX teams celebrate the 800 GE implementation. From left to right: Sebastian Seifert, CFO at DE-CIX; Thomas King, CTO at DE-CIX; Rafael de Fermín, Vice President of the Network Infrastructure business in Europe at Nokia; Marco Zietz, Senior Architect Network Design at DE-CIX; Matthias Hahn, Sales Director at Nokia; Wolfgang Seibert, Head of Customer Team Germany at Nokia; Ivo Ivanov, CEO at DE-CIX