DE-CIX Chicago becomes second-largest internet exchange

DE-CIX Chicago has become the second-largest internet exchange in Chicago, with traffic nearly quadrupling over the past year.

The exchange recorded more than 1 Tbps of peak traffic for the first time in August and now connects more than 85 networks with over 8 terabits of connected capacity. It is accessible from 18 data centres across the Chicago metropolitan area, which DE-CIX says is the widest reach of any internet exchange in the local market.

The growth has also lifted the operation in North American rankings tracked by PeeringDB. DE-CIX Chicago moved from 58th place in 2023 to 29th in 2026, putting it in the continent's top 30.

Chicago has long been a major hub for network traffic and interconnection in the US Midwest, making scale and geographic reach important measures for exchange operators competing for network participants. Internet exchanges let networks swap traffic directly instead of routing it through third-party transit providers.

DE-CIX Chicago serves content networks, cloud platforms, AI-focused cloud providers, carriers, internet service providers, and enterprise networks. Its local platform offers peering, cloud connectivity, AI connectivity, and other interconnection services, with port sizes up to 400 GE.

The operator attributed part of its expansion to its distributed model across the city and links with partner sites beyond central carrier hotels. It said that approach had helped extend access to data centres that were previously less well served by exchange infrastructure in the metropolitan area.

For networks outside Chicago, DE-CIX works with transit, transport, and reseller partners including PacketFabric, Capcon Networks, Shift Hosting, and South Front Networks. Those partnerships are intended to extend access to the exchange to organisations elsewhere in the Midwest.

Market position

At six years old, the Chicago exchange is one of the younger platforms in the local market, but recent traffic growth has given it a larger role in the city's interconnection landscape. DE-CIX says the platform now offers a neutral alternative for networks seeking additional routes for traffic exchange and redundancy across the metropolitan area.

Its wider North American business has also strengthened its position in other metropolitan markets. According to PeeringDB rankings cited by the company, DE-CIX Dallas is now ranked 15th in North America and DE-CIX New York ranks third.

Ed d'Agostino, Vice President of DE-CIX North America, linked the Chicago result to broader infrastructure demand in large US metro areas.

"Becoming the Number Two IX in the Chicago market and making it into the Top 30 in North America in just six years demonstrates how quickly DE-CIX Chicago has become an important part of the region's digital infrastructure," said Ed d'Agostino, Vice President of DE-CIX North America.

"The US market has demonstrated in multiple markets that every tier-1 metro benefits from a second large, neutral IX that can create greater path diversity, attract more networks, and support a competitive interconnection ecosystem," he said.

DE-CIX says its reach across 18 data centres gives it broader physical coverage in the Chicago area than rival exchanges in the same market. That footprint, combined with rising traffic volumes and network count, has helped move the exchange into the upper tier of North American interconnection hubs.

DE-CIX also pointed to expansion beyond the city centre as part of its regional strategy. "By working with under-served data centers in the metropolitan region and connectivity partners across multiple states, we're extending the benefits of connectivity on the IX more broadly within Chicago, as well as beyond the city limits to networks throughout the Midwest," said d'Agostino.