Frankfurt (Germany), 14 May 2026. DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange (IX) operator, today announces its membership in Mplify, a global alliance shaping the evolution of Network as a Service (NaaS). Among the early IX operators worldwide to join the alliance, DE-CIX will contribute its expertise to the advancement of standardized and automated connectivity solutions for peering, cloud connectivity, and AI connectivity, while collaborating on the use of Mplify’s Lifecycle Service Orchestration (LSO) APIs as a framework for interconnection automation. The move supports DE-CIX’s strategic evolution towards becoming an Interconnection as a Service provider.
Building on its long-standing role in shaping Internet standards through organizations such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), DE-CIX is now expanding its engagement to include Mplify and the advancement of standardized NaaS. Mplify – formerly MEF – is a global alliance of enterprises, service providers, cloud and technology providers, data centers, and systems integrators collaborating to accelerate the AI-powered digital economy. Through standardization, automation, certification, and community-led innovation, the alliance enables secure, scalable, and trusted services that drive NaaS adoption including work spanning AI-ready infrastructure, automated service orchestration, APIs and multi-provider connectivity.
“Mplify brings together the organizations building and delivering the next generation of AI-driven network services,” said Kevin Vachon, COO, Mplify. “As NaaS continues to evolve, standardized frameworks such as Mplify’s LSO APIs, along with automation and certification, are becoming increasingly important to scalable, interoperable service delivery across the ecosystem. We’re excited to welcome DE-CIX and look forward to their contributions as the industry advances AI-ready connectivity and digital infrastructure.”
A world leader in the automation of interconnection, DE-CIX has developed its own NaaS products – offering secure and direct connectivity between clouds for seamless hybrid and multi-cloud environments. The IX operator has been a key collaborator on the community-based IX-API project, enabling automated deployment, scaling, booking, and cancellation of interconnection services. The IX-API was developed as a collaboration between the world’s leading Internet Exchange operators DE-CIX, AMS-IX, and LINX and is now available as a standard for the broader ecosystem. Through Mplify, DE-CIX will also collaborate with the broader ecosystem on standardized LSO APIs supporting automated interconnection services across providers and domains.
“At DE-CIX, we have joined the Mplify Alliance to contribute our expertise to the further development of NaaS standards,” says Dr. Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX and joint initiator of the IX-API project. “With this initiative, DE-CIX continues to drive innovation, standardization, and the automation of connectivity services, reinforcing its evolution as a leading Interconnection and Network as a Service provider. In the cloud and AI era, automated NaaS solutions and secure, controllable connectivity to clouds and other networks will become essential to the success of networking projects of enterprise and wholesale customers.”
Driving innovation in its sector, DE-CIX has achieved many ‘world firsts’ over the years, including not only building the world’s first patch robot (2018), becoming the first IX operator globally to introduce 100 GE (2005) and 400 GE (2019) ports, and connecting the world’s first IX customer using a next-generation 800 GE access port (2025), but also launching the world’s first AI-IX (2025). The IX operator continuously advances the technical capabilities and automation of interconnection for the cloud and AI era. DE-CIX offers its interconnection services in 60 locations in Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Today, accessible from data centers in over 600 cities world-wide, DE-CIX interconnects thousands of network operators (carriers), Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers and enterprise networks from more than 100 countries, and offers peering, cloud and AI connectivity, and other interconnection services.
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About DE-CIX
DE-CIX, pronounced DEE-KICKS [dˈi:-kˈɪks], is the world’s leading operator of Internet Exchanges (IXs). Founded in 1995, DE-CIX offers its interconnection services in 60 locations in Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. Today, accessible from data centers in over 600 cities world-wide, DE-CIX interconnects thousands of network operators (carriers), Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers and enterprise networks from more than 100 countries, and offers peering, cloud and AI connectivity, and other interconnection services. DE-CIX Frankfurt is one of the largest Internet Exchanges in the world, with a data volume of over 48 Exabytes per year (as of 2025) and close to 1100 connected networks. More than 250 colleagues from over 35 different nations form the foundation of the DE-CIX success story in Germany and around the world. Since the beginning of the commercial Internet, DE-CIX has had a decisive influence – in a range of leading global bodies, such as the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) – on co-defining guiding principles for the Internet of the present and the future. As the operator of critical IT infrastructure, DE-CIX bears a great responsibility for the seamless, fast, and secure data exchange between people, enterprises, and organizations at its locations around the globe.
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