Selects Equinix's Tokyo IBX center to offer its IX Connect Service; users will be able to establish peering with other participants at BBIX Tokyo.

Equinix, Inc., a provider of network-neutral data centers and Internet exchange services, recently announced that BBIX, a Softbank-funded carrier-neutral provider of Internet exchange services in Japan, has selected Equinix's Tokyo Internet Business Exchange (IBX) center as the only location outside of its proprietary exchange points to offer its IX Connect Service. 

Under the agreement, customers colocating within the Equinix Tokyo IBX will be able to acquire BBIX's IX Connect Service through the Equinix Exchange service. Through this agreement, U.S. and Asia-Pacific companies colocating at Equinix's data center will be able to directly access a significant portion of the Japanese broadband end-user market via the Yahoo! BB Service's broadband network provided by Softbank BB, which includes more than 4.93 million Yahoo! BB users and is one of the largest broadband service providers in Japan. In addition, by utilizing the IX Connect Service, users will be able to establish peering with other participants at BBIX Tokyo.

"Since BBIX was established in 2003, we have been working towards the goal of achieving more efficient traffic management by distributing mutual connection points in major cities throughout the country," said Mr. Michikazu Fukuchi, Director of BBIX. "We have selected Equinix as a strategic business partner for its network-neutral business model, strong global presence and world class data centre with a large variety of Tier 1 networks and enterprise customers."

"This agreement represents the first network exchange or 'peering' agreement for BBIX, enabling both BBIX and Equinix to drastically enhance their interconnection services by offering direct access to even more network service providers and content companies," said David Wilkinson, Managing Director of Equinix Japan. "This peering is a fundamental element of the Internet's infrastructure that improves the performance of the Internet for all users by enabling data to pass from one network to another without intermediary networks or bottlenecks."