Nokia has been Selected by DE-CIX to upgrade New York IX
As its network ecosystem grows, DE-CIX New York is hungry for greater router flexibility and operational resilience.
With this in mind, New York’s largest Internet Exchange will be upgraded by DE-CIX in partnership with leading telco Nokia. The backbone network will be upgraded to 400 Gigabit Ethernet (GE) using Nokia optical technology.
It will also be redesigned in a ring topology to interconnect the 10 data centre facilities where DE-CIX infrastructure is housed and enhance the resiliency of the platforms for all participants.
“When we began planning the upgrade of our New York backbone, we wanted to simplify our network, while also increasing the resilience of the platform,” says Dr. Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX.
“Nokia was the best choice for us. We have worked with Nokia globally for more than 10 years now and the capacity, reliability and innovative strength of their hardware has always impressed us.”
Making networks faster
When it comes to the DE-CIX upgrade, Nokia’s ROADM technology in its 1830 Photonic Service Switch (PSS) makes it possible to automatically reroute waves at the optical layer in any direction around the backbone.
According to DE-CIX, this means that incidents at any location in the network can be mitigated faster and less capacity is required at the IP layer to guarantee the same level of resilience.
“In today’s connected world, staying resilient and ready to scale is a must. This upgrade to DE-CIX New York’s backbone isn’t just about supporting the largest Internet Exchange in the Northeast — it’s about shaping the future of connectivity in one of the world’s biggest markets,” explains James Watt, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Nokia’s optical business.
Nokia optical solution is designed to offer improved flexibility, faster incident response times and seamless customer experience with no service interruptions.
The telco has committed itself to supporting cloud builders and operators to build modern data centre networks that are reliable and secure, which is necessary to meet the growing demands of global AI workloads.
- 400GE backbone upgrade
- 800GE support for anticipated further growth
- Reconfigurable Optical Add/Drop Multiplexer (ROADM) technology
As a result of its efforts in this sector, the company recently enjoyed higher-than-expected Q4 profit and sales results.
“With Nokia’s cutting-edge optical tech, we’re ensuring networks are flexible, reliable and ready to handle whatever comes next," James adds. "Together with DE-CIX, we’re building the foundation for a limitless digital future.”
Shaping future connectivity
DE-CIX New York is connected to all other DE-CIX locations in North America, which enables remote peering and access to a vibrant ecosystem of networks not present in other local exchanges.
Ed d’Agostino, Vice President DE-CIX North America, says: “This upgrade, powered by Nokia’s optical technology, allows us to future-proof our platform to best serve the New York market and start 2025 on track for further growth.
The DE-CIX Internet and Cloud Exchanges in New York, Dallas, Chicago, Richmond, Houston, and Phoenix and the dedicated Cloud Exchange in Seattle, form the largest carrier and data center neutral interconnection ecosystem in North America.
The internet exchange is also directly connected to DE-CIX locations in Europe, including DE-CIX Frankfurt, the largest IX in Europe.
- DE-CIX interconnects thousands of network operators, ISPs, content providers and enterprise networks from more than 100 countries
Globally in 2025, DE-CIX continues to offer its interconnection services in close to 60 locations across Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East and Asia.
In January 2025, the company partnered with e& to enhance the IX ecosystem in the Middle East by providing direct connections to DE-CIX’s global network.
Ed adds: “With the number of data centers that we integrate, it is imperative that we have a state-of-the-art transport network with scalable capacity. DE-CIX New York is the largest IX in New York and the youngest Internet Exchange in the Top 5 largest IXs in the US.
“The platform covers an area spanning Long Island to the East and Piscataway and Edison to the South and West. It connects over 265 networks from across the city, with an infrastructure that spans over 40 data centers served.”
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