• Peering Market at a Glance: Trends, Transformations, and the Regional Dynamics of Internet Interconnection Flavio Luciani Flavio Luciani was born in Rome in 1981 and graduated in Computer Engineering from the University of Roma Tre in 2005. • Since 2008 he has been in the team of Namex, the Internet eXchange Point in Rome, first as a member of the technical staff and since 2020 as Chief …More 3 min read Share Recent claims that IXPs “aren’t showing significant growth”, that more interconnection is happening outside exchanges, and that peering can be more expensive than transit challenge long-standing assumptions about the role of IXPs. • But do these claims hold up? • A new paper from NAMEX explores the data. • When people talk about IXP decline, they often point to familiar metrics: member counts, port capacity, and year-on-year growth curves. • In our new article, we argue that those signals are increasingly easy to misread, not because peering is shrinking, but because the interconnection market is changing shape.
Article Summaries:
- A new NAMEX paper challenges the narrative that Internet exchange points (IXPs) are shrinking, arguing instead that the market is evolving. While global capacity continues to rise, member counts and port growth have plateaued in mature regions, reflecting a shift toward diversified services and broader participation rather than decline. The study shows that traffic and membership can diverge, citing UK IXPs and a cleanup at IX.br. In emerging markets-South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria-growth remains pronounced. Overall, the paper contends that IXPs are not in decline but are transforming, emphasizing resilience, locality, and a wider range of participants.
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