Colo provider IO Data Centres has partnered with the London Internet Exchange (LINX) to give its customers a direct route to local networks.

The company is now the fourth LINX vPoP in the UK providing a direct route to the main LINX exchange points to clients.

LINX is a mutually governed Internet exchange point (IXP) which operates peering hubs for over 650 Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators.

The exchange also helps distribute peering within the UK with multiple sites including regional exchanges in Edinburgh, Manchester and Cardiff, which allow ISPs and network operators to keep their traffic local.

Nigel Stevens, IO’s UK Managing Director, told CBR: "Having a partnership with LINX is very important for any media services we might do in the future."

Stevens also said that the proximity to LINX is very important for anybody that wants to peer and "we will have people in our data centre that want and need to do that."

He said: "As with any network, connectivity is very important, but particularly for internet networks.

"A very good data centre is useless if it is not connected. The more connections that we can have into here, from different carriers and different types of carriers, like LINX, the better home it is.

Stevens added that entering into a partnership with LINX transforms the data centre into a connected asset rather than a standalone house of data.

"A connected asset is an asset in our portfolio but it is deeply connected to the network."

"Extending our network connectivity into such a rich community of ISPs providing an extensive range of peering services is very exciting for us, and our customers. It will bring best-in-class performance, latency and control options to both our existing and prospective customer base.

LINX’s CEO, John Souter said: "By becoming a LINX member via IO Data Centres, networks will have the ability to exchange traffic with the rest of LINX’s expanding community of ISPs and network operators in an efficient, and cost-effective, way."

The company opened its first UK data centre earlier this year. The 112,000 sq ft carrier neutral hub has a core power of 20MVA (as for phase one) and it is cooled down by chillers and direct fresh air.