Originally posted on Data Center POST

Mark CooperData Center POST recently spoke with Mark Cooper, Amsterdam Internet Exchange’s (AMS-IX) Chief Commercial Officer, about what the company plans to accomplish at the upcoming International Telecoms Week (ITW) event, the world’s largest meeting for the global wholesale telecommunications community. ITW 2016 will take place at the Hyatt Regency and Swissotel in Chicago, IL from May 8-11, 2016. In our Q&A with Mr. Cooper, we explored the topic of global Internet exchanges and the ways in which AMS-IX has adapted to the industry’s growing demand for bandwidth. AMS-IX was established in the early 1990s as a not-for-profit organization and is a neutral and independent Internet Exchange based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. The company now interconnects close to nearly 800 networks by offering professional IP exchange services, also called peering services.

Q and A with Data Center Post’s contributing editor, Kathy Xu

Data Center POST, Kathy Xu (DCP-KX) Question: How has the industry changed in the past year in regard to your global Internet exchange?

AMS-IX, Mark Cooper (AMS-IX-MC) Answer: The global peering and interconnection market in which AMS-IX operates is constantly evolving. This is nothing new. This has already been happening since our establishment in the nineties. We have seen developments such as new types of interconnection platforms entering the market and have continued to experience increased competition from other Internet Exchanges as well as carriers due to the ongoing reduction in IP transit pricing. 

DCP-KX Q: What has your company done to be able to further adapt to these changes?

AMS-IX-MC A: Due to the changes within the market where AMS-IX operates we started to reassess our strengths last year. One of the main outcomes is the recognition of our strong technical expertise and market reputation. We have amassed extensive knowledge in building large-scale Internet Exchange platforms and highly valued infrastructure management and customer portal software, which we’ve developed in-house.

Two new projects that have already resulted from our expertise in managing large peering platforms are our strategic partnership with ChinaCache and our agreement with Megaport. We have been supporting ChinaCache in the creation of the first carrier neutral Internet Exchange in China, providing design consultancy and delivering infrastructure management and customer portal software. The agreement with Megaport means that AMS-IX and Megaport have started with interconnecting and combining our platforms in markets where we both have a presence. 

The agreement with Megaport and the ChinaCache partnership are prime examples of the new direction AMS-IX is taking. In 2016 and beyond we will further develop this direction by maintaining a focus on our existing platforms and customers.

To read the full article, view it on the Data Center POST website here.