Internet Exchange Point (IXP) MIX launches a new facility at Lancom's Thessaloniki location, known as the Balkan Gate.

Internet Exchange Point (IXP) MIX launches a new facility at Lancom's Thessaloniki location, known as the Balkan Gate.

MIX Thessaloniki Boosts Northern Greece's Internet Infrastructure

MIX, the main Internet exchange point in Italy, has expanded its presence to Thessaloniki, Greece, with the activation of MIX Thessaloniki at Balkan Gate, Lancom's flagship data center. This move strengthens the regional internet infrastructure and connectivity in Northern Greece.

George Nolis, CEO and founder of Lancom, considers this partnership a catalyst for digital transformation in the Balkans and Eastern Europe. Alessandro Talotta, Executive President and Chairman of MIX, expresses pride in collaborating with Lancom, a leader in Greece's digital infrastructure.

MIX Thessaloniki provides regional carriers, ISPs, cloud providers, and businesses with low latency access to a vast ecosystem of networks and services. Balkan Gate, the largest carrier-neutral Tier III facility in Northern Greece, serves as a critical hub for connectivity, with direct interconnection paths to the Balkans, Central Europe, Turkey, and the Middle East.

The collaboration between MIX and Lancom offers numerous benefits. By facilitating direct interconnection between ISPs and networks in Thessaloniki, MIX Thessaloniki reduces latency and traffic congestion, thus boosting internet performance for users in Northern Greece. This improvement in local traffic routing also strengthens network resilience through geographic diversity and state-of-the-art infrastructure, providing a reliable environment for network interconnection.

The activation of MIX Thessaloniki could attract tech companies, startups, and digital services to Thessaloniki, supporting economic growth and the city's importance as a telecommunications hub. Furthermore, the Thessaloniki's strategic location in the Balkans means MIX Thessaloniki could serve as a critical node for internet traffic exchange between Greece and neighboring Balkan countries, improving cross-border internet performance.

MIX brings extensive experience in designing and managing high-performance Internet Exchange Points to the collaboration with Lancom. Lancom's deep local presence and dense network of partnerships with ISPs and businesses throughout the Balkan region complement MIX's established relationships with major global content providers.

Overall, the activation of MIX Thessaloniki supports Greece’s efforts to decentralize and modernize its internet infrastructure, promoting faster, more efficient local and regional internet traffic handling. MIX Thessaloniki is a significant step in MIX's mission to support high-quality, secure, and scalable interconnection services across Eastern Europe.

[1] This evaluation is based on the known roles and impacts of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) combined with the specific mention of MIX Thessaloniki at Balkan Gate, connecting with Greece’s existing internet exchange ecosystem.

1. The activation of MIX Thessaloniki at Balkan Gate, a critical hub for connectivity, marks a significant entry of data-and-cloud-computing technology into Northern Greece, offering low latency access to a vast network ecosystem for finance, industry, and businesses.
2. This collaboration between MIX and Lancom, a leader in Greece's digital infrastructure, could potentially attract technology companies, startups, and digital services, thereby promoting finance and industry growth in Thessaloniki.

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