The operator celebrates its 30th anniversary, solidifying its role as the backbone of the global Internet, with key hubs in cities such as Madrid, Frankfurt, and Dallas.
DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet exchange operator (IX), has reached a new global record: on April 8th at 19:10 UTC, its global network recorded interconnection traffic of 25 terabits per second (Tbit/s), an unprecedented data volume in the company’s history and the industry. This figure doubles the traffic they managed in 2020, representing a growth of 130% in just five years.
This new milestone was not concentrated in a single geographic location, such as Frankfurt or New York—historically neuralgic centers of digital traffic—but was the result of a combination of peaks across multiple locations like Dallas, Madrid, Istanbul, or Berlin, Germany’s financial capital. According to DE-CIX, this exceptional traffic coincided with large-scale software updates, live sporting events, and regular consumption of digital content.
“This record demonstrates the power of peering—the direct interconnection between networks—and how it efficiently connects video platforms, downloads, mobile networks, and more,” said Dr. Thomas King, CTO of DE-CIX.
What does 25 Tbit/s traffic represent?
To put it into perspective, 25 terabits per second would be equivalent to streaming about 14 million TikTok videos simultaneously. You could also imagine it as a stack of A4 paper as tall as 20 times Mount Everest… every second. This volume of data, transmitted without interruptions or bottlenecks, reflects not only the efficiency of DE-CIX’s technical infrastructure but also the growing global demand for digital services and the reliability that businesses and users expect.
30 years building the heart of the Internet
This record comes just in the year that DE-CIX celebrates its 30th anniversary. Founded in 1995 in Frankfurt with the idea of ensuring that data sent between German cities would not have to pass through the United States, the local project evolved into an international network connecting more than 4,000 networks in over 600 cities.
DE-CIX Frankfurt remains one of the largest data exchange points in the world today, with nearly 1,100 connected networks. Its growth has paralleled the expansion of the digital ecosystem in Europe, particularly in Germany, where it has helped make Frankfurt the heart of the European Internet.
The invisible infrastructure that makes it possible
Behind this record and millions of video calls, online gaming sessions, or massive downloads are invisible yet vital infrastructures like those managed by DE-CIX. These exchange points allow data to flow directly between service providers, mobile networks, streaming platforms, public and private clouds, or global businesses, reducing latency and improving efficiency.
In a context of growing digital complexity—with the expansion of Artificial Intelligence, Edge Computing, and cyber threats—DE-CIX has committed to secure, scalable, high-performance connectivity as a strategic pillar for the future of the Internet.
“We connect the present and innovate the future,” states the operator’s motto for this 30th anniversary.
A critical infrastructure in a digital world
In an environment where digitization is reaching all sectors—from health to finance, education, or entertainment—maintaining and evolving interconnection networks like DE-CIX is more important than ever. And not just for big tech companies: also for governments, institutions, and businesses that require reliable and secure connections to operate.
With this new record of 25 Tbit/s, DE-CIX reaffirms its role as the backbone of the global network. And while celebrating three decades of history, it also delivers a constructive warning to the digital ecosystem: the future of the Internet will depend, more than ever, on robust, inclusive connectivity that is prepared for the challenges of a new era.