Montgomery extends internet network to Auburn to expand digital access

The City of Montgomery Tuesday announced plans to extend its high-speed internet network to Auburn, Alabama. This expansion will pave the digital path to cost-effective, efficient and accessible connectivity. The Montgomery Internet Exchange, MGMix, a peering network that supports internet service providers (ISP), will extend its network fabric to AUBix LLC, a mission-critical, multi-tenant datacenter in Auburn, Alabama.

“This is a step forward to achieving digital equity across the region, benefitting individuals who live in underserved rural communities,” said Steven Reed, Mayor of the City of Montgomery. “By extending our network fabric to a datacenter in Auburn, the MGMix will improve the efficiency and resiliency of the internet for the Montgomery area, colleges and businesses along the I-85 corridor and the entire River Region.”

Interconnecting high-speed internet, called “peering,” allows internet service providers to exchange traffic unabated. Extending the MGMix to the Auburn area saves money for local broadband networks and allows them to expand their service coverage area to offer more reliable internet access.

“The internet exchange in Auburn, AUBix, is proud to partner with the City of Montgomery to extend the MGMix peering to multiple internet service providers’ high-speed global backbones to connect to global enterprises, academia, and content and gaming providers to quickly and easily exchange traffic. Peering typically produces a more direct path between two networks, thereby reducing the distance that data have to travel. The result is lower latency, higher speeds and an improved end-user experience,” said Andrew Albrecht, CEO of AUBix.

Peering has many advantages over its alternative, which is to purchase internet transit to carry data traffic. In many cases, network traffic has to travel hundreds of miles to reach large metropolitan markets. The advantages of peering include:

• Efficiency:  Peering creates a better, more open internet while allowing ISPs to deliver better service to end users.
• Resiliency:  Businesses and consumers are no longer limited to one local network which is responsible for distributing or receiving all their data traffic.
• Cost-effectiveness:  Peering is much more cost-effective than paying one or more networks to carry traffic while delivering higher speeds and quality of service.
• Competition:  Internet exchanges tend to be hubs for competition by increasing internet speed. Customers can connect and peer at speeds ranging from 1 Gbps to 100+ Gbps.

“Broadband is a hot topic and a priority in the 21st century. Auburn has long worked to provide options for its residents, recruiting as many broadband providers locally as the market will allow,” said Auburn Mayor Ron Anders. “We’re proud to have AUBix here in Auburn improving the local digital infrastructure. Peering with the Montgomery Internet Exchange helps major players from Amazon to Netflix deliver excellent local performance while providing business growth and a direct connection to enterprises locally and customers around the world. This is a win for Auburn, Montgomery and the entire region.”