The short definition
An Internet Exchange Point (IXP) is a physical location where independent networks — internet service providers, content platforms, CDNs, cloud providers and enterprises — connect to a shared switching fabric and exchange traffic with each other directly. Instead of handing traffic to a paid transit provider who carries it somewhere else, two networks that both sit on the exchange can simply send it to each other.
That exchange of traffic is called peering. It is usually settlement-free: neither side pays the other, because both benefit.
What actually happens at an IXP
Each network connects a router to a port on the exchange switch. The exchange assigns it an address on a shared peering LAN. The network then sets up BGP sessions — either with individual networks (bilateral peering) or with the exchange’s route servers (multilateral peering), which let a member peer with everyone else through a single session.
From that point, routes are exchanged and traffic flows over the shortest path the two networks share: across the exchange fabric, inside the same building or city.
Why it matters for users
Consider a broadband subscriber in a tier-2 city watching a video. Without a local exchange, the request may leave the city, travel to a metro hundreds of kilometres away, reach the content network there and come back. With a local exchange where both the ISP and the content network are present, the traffic turns around in the same city.
The visible result is lower latency, fewer buffering pauses and more consistent performance at peak hours.
Why it matters for networks
- Transit savings. Every gigabit exchanged over peering is a gigabit that does not need to be bought from an upstream provider.
- Control. Networks choose whom to peer with and how routes are announced.
- Resilience. An exchange adds a second path to important destinations if an upstream link fails.
Why India needs exchange points everywhere
India’s internet users are increasingly outside the largest metros. Content consumption, digital payments, online education and gaming are growing fastest in tier-2 and tier-3 towns. Yet interconnection has historically concentrated in a handful of cities.
That is why Peer1IX is building a distributed footprint — Internet Exchange Points, Micro PoPs and Edge Data Centers — with a goal of 1,200 exchange points across 150 cities in Bharat by 2030. The aim is simple: traffic should be exchanged as close as possible to the people who generate it.
Getting started
If your network has an ASN and its own IP space, you can peer. Register your interest and our interconnection team will share availability in your city.
