Digital Realty expands DE-CIX access across four US metros

Digital Realty and DE-CIX have expanded their partnership in the United States, adding access to DE-CIX Internet Exchanges at 22 more Digital Realty data centres in four metropolitan markets.

The expansion covers facilities in Chicago, Dallas, New York and Phoenix through Digital Realty's Metro Connect service. Customers at every Digital Realty site in those four metros can now connect to the DE-CIX ecosystem.

The agreement nearly doubles the companies' joint footprint in the US and increases their global footprint together by 25%.

DE-CIX operates Internet Exchanges that allow networks, internet service providers, cloud platforms and enterprises to interconnect directly. Digital Realty provides data centre and colocation services through a global estate of more than 300 facilities in more than 55 metropolitan areas.

Broader reach

The latest expansion builds on a partnership that has run for more than two decades. Their existing relationship spans 16 metropolitan markets in 11 countries across Europe, the Americas and Asia.

By extending DE-CIX access across all Digital Realty locations in the four US metros, the companies aim to widen participation in their interconnection ecosystem. Customers in those facilities will be able to use services including peering, cloud connectivity, AI connectivity and private interconnection.

The agreement also strengthens Digital Realty's connectivity offering across participating North American campuses. For DE-CIX, it opens its platform to a wider base of networks, enterprises, cloud providers and digital infrastructure operators in some of the country's largest interconnection markets.

The US data centre market has become a focal point for network operators and infrastructure providers as demand for distributed computing and cloud connectivity grows. At the same time, operators are positioning themselves to support AI-related traffic patterns, which are placing new demands on where infrastructure sits and how systems exchange data.

Ivo Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of DE-CIX, placed the announcement in that context.

"In the age of AI inference and cloud-based business models, digital infrastructure is becoming increasingly distributed, making simple and reliable connectivity between data centers, networks, clouds, and applications more important than ever," said Ivo Ivanov, Chief Executive Officer of DE-CIX. "Through the expansion of our decades-long and valued collaboration with Digital Realty, the DE-CIX ecosystem is now within easy reach for customers at dozens of facilities across the most important markets in North America. Customers gain more choice over where they deploy their infrastructure and a straightforward way to access the interconnection services they need."

Metro coverage

The four metropolitan areas covered by the agreement are among the most active hubs for interconnection traffic in the US. New York and Chicago remain major exchange points for financial services, media and network operators, while Dallas and Phoenix have attracted sustained investment as lower-cost, high-growth locations for data centre expansion.

For Digital Realty, offering access to DE-CIX across all its facilities in each of those metros may help it present a more consistent interconnection proposition to tenants with workloads spread across multiple sites. The arrangement is delivered through Metro Connect, its service for linking customers between locations within a metropolitan area.

Chris Sharp, Chief Technology Officer of Digital Realty, said the wider rollout would give customers a standard route into the DE-CIX environment across the four markets.

"Connectivity is what makes distributed infrastructure work. By expanding our collaboration with DE-CIX across Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Phoenix, customers at every Digital Realty data center in those metros can reach the DE-CIX ecosystem through Metro Connect - with the flexibility, choice and neutrality they expect from our platform," said Sharp.

DE-CIX was founded in 1995 and now offers interconnection services in 60 locations worldwide. Its platforms are accessible from data centres in more than 600 cities and connect thousands of networks from more than 100 countries.

Digital Realty has built one of the world's largest data centre portfolios, with operations across six continents. The partnership expansion highlights how data centre operators and exchange providers are seeking closer commercial ties as customers look for easier access to networks, cloud platforms and private interconnection within the same campuses.