MONTREAL, April 23, 2013 /CNW/ – The Montreal Internet Exchange (www.qix.ca), a non-profit organization working to create a more robust, higher-performing Internet in the province of Quebec, with its partners, today officially launched the first Quebec Internet Exchange Point, bringing faster Internet to users across the province.
“The launch of the Montreal Internet Exchange, also known as QIX, is a critical step towards creating a faster, more robust Internet, not just in Quebec, but across all of Canada,” said Sylvie LaPerrière, Chairperson of the Montreal Internet Exchange and Program Manager for Peering and Content Distribution at Google. “With eight million residents, and over two million households with fixed line broadband subscriptions, we’re delighted that Montreal is home to the new QIX.”
An Internet Exchange Point (IXP) is a large data switch that allows Internet users in the same area, usually a large city, to connect directly with each other. An IXP allows local network traffic to take shorter, faster paths between member networks, accelerating traffic flow on major Internet backbones, improving performance and helping to reduce network costs.
“Thanks to our sponsors’ participation, the Canadian Internet Registration Authority, Cisco and our major partner, Cologix, the launch of the Montreal Internet Exchange is a critical step towards creating a faster, more robust Internet, not just in Quebec, but across all of Canada,” said LaPerrière.
“The real milestone is the Internet community taking charge of the QIX development that the Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec, or RISQ, had assumed since 1995. The child grew up and it was time for him to leave the family home,” said Michel Vanier, CEO of RISQ. “RISQ will remain involved and continue to assure the operation of the Exchange.”
For Quebec’s businesses, residents and service providers, the new exchange point will:
- Reduce IP transit costs, thanks to settlement-free, or cost-free, peering arrangements between the members of QIX, which includes Internet service providers and other corporate and public sector partners throughout Quebec.
- Improve performance and security for consumers by keeping traffic local without round tripping to exchanges in Toronto or New York.
- Provide close proximity to the European cable landing stations in Halifax.
- Allow service and content providers and other private and public sector partners to establish new peering relationships with low administrative burdens.
- The Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA), the organization that manages the .CA Internet domain, assisted QIX by acquiring networking equipment and supporting QIX’s development through a seat on the Exchange’s board of directors.
QIX will deploy its core node in Cologix’s facility at René Lévesque Boulevard and with a secondary node remaining at 625 Rene Levesque Boulevard West.
QIX partners include Fibrenoire, Cogeco Data Services, Metro Optic, RISQ, CIRA, Optic.ca, Groupe Tel-tech Inc., Cologix, and Google.
The launch event for QIX, being held at 1250 René Lévesque Boulevard West in Montreal this evening, is sponsored by Cisco, Cologix and CIRA.
About Montreal Internet Exchange and QIX
The Montreal Internet Exchange (QIX) is a non-profit, member-led organization. QIX was established with the active involvement of Montreal-area Internet companies, including Fibrenoire, Cogeco Data Services, Metro Optic, Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec (RISQ), optic.ca, Groupe Teltech Inc., and Google, as well as the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and Cologix.
BACKGROUNDER
What is an Internet Exchange Point?
An Internet Exchange Point (IXP) is an Internet facility that allows multiple networks, such as three or more Internet service providers (ISPs) in the same city, to connect directly to each other. Any traffic, such as emails, sent between customers of two ISPs is transmitted entirely over that local connection. In addition to local ISPs, this kind of peer-sharing arrangement can include major content providers, universities, large corporations, and government. Like the Internet itself, an IXP is the result of several stakeholders agreeing to connect via a network bridge for mutual benefit.
The Internet is not a single entity. It is a network of independent networks that have agreed to transmit their customers’ data between each other using standard communication protocols. How data travels, and the route it takes to its destination, has been determined by how the global Internet backbone was constructed over the past 30 years by large network operators and ISPs. Because of the way the Internet grew, it was often more economical for ISPs to move domestic traffic over established international links. This meant that an email sent between two individuals in the same city might take a circuitous route through several other cities, or even another country, before arriving at its destination.
However, the longer the route, the greater the data latency or lag; websites take longer to load and emails take longer to be sent and received. In a country such as Canada, which boasts some of the highest Internet usage and video-streaming rates in the world, latency is common irritant that makes for a poor user experience.
IXPs have become an increasingly important component of the Internet as it has grown in size and complexity. An IXP allows local network traffic to take shorter, faster paths between member networks, alleviating congestion on major Internet backbones and reducing network costs. This can result in a substantial improvement in local Internet performance and bandwidth availability. However, creating an IXP requires cooperation between network operators, ISPs and other stakeholders, such as government and private industry.
Peering and better pricing for consumers
IXPs also strengthen the competitive position of ISPs who peer. Peering is an arrangement between two or more ISPs to exchange traffic with each other. It is these arrangements between large and small ISPs that allow data to move between countries and continents and to reach even the smallest and remote communities. Because independent ISPs rely on peering arrangements with Canada’s incumbent telecommunications carriers to access the whole Internet, and that access invariably routes through a U.S.-based IXP, more domestic IXPs would allow the independents to reduce their overall costs for carriage by exchanging traffic locally. This should ultimately result in better pricing for consumers.
Strengthening Quebec’s Internet infrastructure
April 23, 2013 marks the official launch of a new not for profit organism Montreal Internet Exchange that will expand the pre-existing Quebec Internet Exchange (QIX). QIX development is an important next step in an ongoing effort by stakeholders across Canada to build a more robust domestic Internet.
There are about 350 IXPs around the world and they have proven to be integral to the Internet infrastructure of many nations.
More exchange points in Canada would ensure that local traffic stays local more of the time, allowing for data to take shorter and more direct routes to its destination and resulting in a more robust, higher performing and more economical domestic network.
QIX is the Quebec link of this national infrastructure. For Quebec’s businesses, residents and service providers, the new exchange point will:
- Reduce IP transit costs, thanks to settlement-free, or cost free, peering arrangements between the members of QIX, which includes ISPs, content providers, and other corporate and public sector partners throughout Quebec.
- Improve performance and reduce costs for consumers by keeping traffic local without round tripping to exchanges in Toronto or New York.
- Provides close proximity to the European cable landing stations in Halifax.
- Allow service providers and other private and public sector partners to establish new peering relationships with low administrative burdens.
The QIX partners include:
Google (google.ca): Google is a global technology leader focused on improving the ways people connect with information.Google’s innovations in web search and advertising have made its website a top internet property and its brand one of the most recognized in the world.
Cogeco Data Services (cogeco.ca): Cogeco is a Canadian-based media and telecommunications company headquartered in Montreal that provides internet, television and other telecommunications and broadcasting services.
Fibrenoire (fibrenoire.ca): Fibrenoire is a Montreal-based company that provides fibre optic connections and fibre optic private network services for companies in Quebec and Ontario.
Metro Optic (metrooptic.com): A Montreal-based internet-service provider, Metro Optic offers fibre optic, web hosting, internet service, network consulting, and security solutions.
Cologix, Inc. (cologix.com): Cologix, Inc. is a network neutral interconnection and colocation company, that provides massively scalable interconnection services and secure, reliable colocation services in densely connected, strategically located carrier hotels in Dallas, Minneapolis, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. With more than 300 network choices and twelve prime interconnection locations, Cologix currently serves over 550 carrier, managed services, cloud, media, content, financial services and enterprise customers. The company’s experienced team of communications infrastructure professionals is committed to providing its customers the highest standard of local customer support.
Groupe Tel-Tech Inc. (www.srdp.net): Founded in 1993, Groupe Tel-Tech Inc. specialises in the construction and the operation of dedicated private fibre optic networks in Quebec and Eastern Ontario. Tel-Tech has constructed several fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fibre-to-the-business (FTTB) and fibre mobile-backhaul deployments.
Optic.ca (nexweb.ca): optic.ca is a Quebec-based company that provides web hosting, video encoding, search engine optimization, and website development services.
Canadian Internet Registration Authority (cira.ca): CIRA is the organization that manages Canada’s .CA domain name registry, develops and implements policies that support Canada’s Internet community.
Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec (risq.qc.ca): RISQ is a non-profit organization in Quebec that offers technology and telecommunications services for 23 years to the education and research sector.
About Montreal Internet Exchange and QIX:
The Montreal Internet Exchange (QIX) is a non-profit, member-led organization. QIX was established with the active involvement of Montreal-area Internet companies, including Fibrenoire, Cogeco Data Services, Metro Optic, Réseau d’informations scientifiques du Québec (RISQ), optic.ca, Groupe Teltech Inc., and Google, as well as the Canadian Internet Registration Authority (CIRA) and Cologix.
Image with caption: “Montreal Internet Exchange (CNW Group/QIX: Montreal Internet Exchange)”. Image available at: http://photos.newswire.ca/images/download/20130423_C7852_PHOTO_EN_25904.jpg
SOURCE: QIX: Montreal Internet Exchange
For further information:
Ginette Labarre
Communications Specialist
Réseau d’informations scientifiques
du Québec (RISQ)
(514) 916-9406
ginette.labarre@risq.qc.ca
Leo Valiquette
inmedia Public Relations
(613) 769-9479
lvaliquette@inmedia.ca
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