LINX is pleased to announce the launch of a brand new Internet Exchange for Scotland, which is now fully installed and will be passing its first Internet traffic over the next few days. The exchange called IXScotland will be LINX's first dedicated Internet Exchange (IXP) for the region.

Hosted at Pulsant’s South Gyle data centre in Edinburgh (formerly Scolocate), IXScotland is built using the hardware from Extreme's Summit X460 Series. The new IXP will allow ISPs and content providers with customers in Scotland to "keep local traffic local" by reducing the need to exchange traffic in London, resulting in reduced latency and faster connectivity for Scottish networks and Internet users.

Today's launch is the culmination of months of consultation with the local network community and the Scottish Government. The IXP launched with many networks connected from the start and with more to follow. The launch was welcomed by the Scottish Government with the Cabinet Secretary, John Swinney, who visited IXScotland just before launch and said:

“We are delighted to welcome the establishment of a dedicated Internet Exchange Point for Scotland which will speed up Internet access for businesses and individuals. I want to recognise the key contribution of LINX, who have worked with the industry and Scottish Government to make this happen.”

John Souter, CEO of LINX, said:
"IXScotland is a real step forward for the Internet community in Scotland and the UK as a whole. The exchange will allow networks to stop 'tromboning' traffic to London and back again, and will help increase resilience by creating a new centre for interconnection in the UK.”

LINX members can connect to any of our IXPs without additional membership fees. To help grow the exchange and build a critical mass of connected networks, all available port speeds, from 100M to 10G, will be free at launch until 2015.