The first network is already connected and exchanging traffic. Through the new DE-CIX Turnkey Connectivity arrangement, any network participating in MASS-IX can now reach more than 260 networks across the New York and New Jersey metropolitan area — the same ecosystem that processed over five exabytes of data through DE-CIX New York in 2025 — without sourcing its own transport into the city or managing cross-connect arrangements independently.
For smaller regional providers, that distinction matters. Internet exchanges are only as valuable as the peer networks accessible through them, but for years a New England operator wanting to peer in New York had to arrange physical presence in the city: transport, cross-connects, equipment co-location and ongoing relationship management. The turnkey arrangement handles that complexity for them.
The underlying access infrastructure in the Boston region is provided by TOWARDEX and its Hub Express System (HEX), an open-access fibre platform connecting major data centre facilities across Greater Boston. TOWARDEX is the first network to use the new connection. That layering — local infrastructure, regional exchange, city-level peering, international reach — is the architectural logic the partnership is designed to formalise.
DE-CIX New York is also the starting point for remote peering into other DE-CIX exchanges, including Dallas, Chicago, Richmond, Houston, Phoenix, Mexico, São Paulo and Frankfurt. For a regional network that begins by improving New York access, the same arrangement provides a path to those markets through virtual connections rather than additional physical deployments.
The partnership sits inside a broader argument about where internet traffic should be exchanged. Network performance is shaped by the proximity of exchange points to the traffic's origin and destination: shorter routes mean lower latency and less congestion, which for AI inference services — where round trips need to be fast for applications to function — translates directly into user-facing quality differences.
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