“We selected Birmingham as our 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," said John Hall, managing director of colocation, Proximity Data Centres,.
"We are looking forward to delivering similar benefits to other regions of the UK and Europe during this year and in 2024.”
Located at Proximity’s Birmingham Edge 8 tier 3 data centre, IX Birmingham will allow businesses across the region to have access to higher-speeds, lower latency connectivity options by removing the need to route all their data via exchanges in London and Manchester.
"The IX Birmingham will greatly enhance the capability of the City as a leading international digital city and its reputation as Digital Birmingham,” said Raj Mack, head of digital city and innovation for Birmingham City Council.
“The Council welcomes this exciting initiative which is line with our vision for creating new innovative opportunities that maximise the use of digital technologies and the skills and capabilities of our citizens and local businesses," said Peter Bishop, director of digital and customer services at Birmingham City Council.
The launch of IX Birmingham is aligned with Proximity’s strategy of rolling out a network of regional internet exchanges within its data centres across the UK and Europe.
At present, there are 10 Proximity edge data centres in the UK, located near to conurbations and cities in the North, North West, Midlands, Thames Valley, South West and South Wales.
"The arrival of IX Birmingham is not only good news for businesses based in the city and wider region, it also allows local altnets and ISPs to benefit from lower cost data transit when backhauling rapidly growing data volumes," added Tobias Hooten, managing director of Iconic Networks, a founding member of IX Birmingham.
"We are delighted to be a founder member and look forward to being a part of stimulating the local digital economy.”
