Dallas (TX), June 4 2025. DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, has announced the completion of a major infrastructure upgrade for DE-CIX Dallas – the largest data center and carrier neutral IX in Texas. As part of the upgrade, 400 GE (Gigabit Ethernet) access ports are now generally available to customers, 100 GE access options have been substantially expanded, and the platform has also been made 800 GE-ready, priming the region for the upcoming boom in Internet peering services and latency-sensitive AI applications.
One of the most impactful changes of the upgrade is enhanced 100 GE access options for customers, now including 100 GE LR technology. While traditional 100 GE LR4 access requires four lasers for transmission, 100 GE LR requires only one laser and uses pulse amplitude modulation (PAM4) to ship data at 100 Gbit/s for a fraction of the hardware cost, increasing efficiency and reducing the cost of optical hardware on the customer side. According to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the industry consortium 100G Lambda MSA, this could result in a transceiver cost reduction of more than 40%. Customer hand-off using 100 GE LR4 will continue to be available. The upgrade of the DE-CIX Dallas backbone using 400 GE wavelength technology also significantly increases the scalability of the platform. On top, the company has upgraded the nation-wide backbone connecting Dallas to locations such as New York, Chicago, and Seattle, and has also connected the city to DE-CIX’s recently commissioned distributed IX in Mexico, with access points in Mexico City and Queretaro.
News of the Dallas upgrade comes just weeks after the announcement that Nokia was selected by DE-CIX to upgrade New York’s largest IX backbone to 400 GE wavelength technology while offering 800 GE support. DE-CIX Internet and Cloud Exchanges in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Richmond, Houston, Phoenix, and the dedicated Cloud Exchange in Seattle, together with the Mexican IX, now form the largest carrier and data center neutral interconnection ecosystem in the North America.
The Rise of Silicon Prairie
If Texas was a country, it would be the eighth largest economy in the world, surpassing the likes of Brazil and Italy with a GDP of $2.4 trillion. According to analysts at Cushman and Wakefield, Dallas ranks sixth in global data center market size, and the city was also recently ranked as the top business hub in America – in part due to its reputation for technological innovation. This upgrade to DE-CIX Dallas positions the region for continued growth, not only by increasing data capacity on the exchange and priming it for future growth, but also through major efficiency gains for connected customers thanks to the inclusion of 100 GE LR.
“By providing 100 GE LR and 400 GE access, introducing 400 GE wavelength technology in the backbone, and making the hub 800 GE-ready, we have now effectively future-proofed DE-CIX Dallas for the emerging needs of its customers,” comments Dr. Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX. “Demand for large capacities and easy-to-consume interconnection services is set to increase dramatically in the coming years, driven by traffic from high-resolution video content, online gaming, and – of course – artificial intelligence. Customers require simplified solutions to ensure seamless integration of interconnection into their network management and infrastructure strategies to keep pace with this data traffic growth. This is why we not only increased capacity but also further increased the resilience of the network and added an additional router in the Equinix DA11 facility.”
DE-CIX Dallas is the operator’s second largest IX in North America, with over 140 networks connected. According to Ed d’Agostino, Vice President DE-CIX North America, “Dallas is a vital transmission hub for our entire North American ecosystem, with a massive coverage potential spanning the South and Southwest regions of the USA and eastern Mexico. The investment in upgrading DE-CIX Dallas demonstrates our continuing commitment to this very important market and the expectation of substantial additional growth.”
Together with DE-CIX Houston and the recently announced partnership with SAT-IX in San Antonio, DE-CIX Dallas now provides excellent coverage of Texas and offers opportunities for networks in less well-connected regions to access world-class interconnection services. The IX is directly connected to the entire ecosystem of DE-CIX IXs in the US, including New York, Chicago, Phoenix, Richmond, and Houston, and provides direct connectivity to DE-CIX Mexico, forming the gateway for traffic flows between the two countries.
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About DE-CIX North America
DE-CIX North America Inc., pronounced DEE-KICKS [dˈi:-kˈɪks], which began operations in 2014, is a wholly owned subsidiary of DE-CIX International AG, the international arm of DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange operator. DE-CIX provides network and data center neutral peering and other interconnection services in North America. The DE-CIX Internet Exchanges in Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Phoenix and Richmond, and the dedicated Cloud Exchange in Seattle, together with direct connectivity to DE-CIX Mexico, create the largest neutral interconnection ecosystem in North America. DE-CIX’s IXs are distributed across major carrier hotels and data centers throughout each metro region it serves. DE-CIX operates more access points than any other Internet Exchange operator in North America. For more information, please visit https://de-cix.net/north-america
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