The London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Japan Internet Xing (JPIX) launched direct network routes between London and Tokyo.

The first phase of the expanded partnership sees JPIX customers able to connect directly to LINX’s London-based LON1 peering platform through a single carrier partner. The connection, ordered and managed by JPIX, comes with an exclusive introductory offer for LINX members alongside a rebrand of LINX's work with other internet exchange points (IXP) to LINX IX Connect. The refit covers all collaborative work and routes offered by LINX, including Namex in Rome and New York’s NYIIX.

The partnership between LINX and JPIX dates back to 2018, with the expansion its biggest in almost a decade. LINX framed the connectivity boost as making Tokyo a strategic location for content delivery, financial trading, and international network expansion, while citing rising global demand for Japanese digital content such as anime, manga, and gaming.

“It’s great to see this partnership flourish," Mike Hellers, product development manager for LINX, noted. "We have a handful of networks now peering in London from Tokyo with quite high bandwidths. We are pleased to now be able to work with JPIX to provide the reverse route from London to Tokyo.”

“This new route is a wider project we are working on to increase the awareness of local peering in Japan for networks in Europe,” JPIX Senior Executive Expert Tetsuya Hamada added.

LINX's Tokyo tie up follows a refresh of its 17-site interconnected network in London courtesy of Nokia. As revealed in March, the Finnish giant refurbished LINX’s LON2 secondary interconnection fabric in London, which operates in parallel with the primary LON1 LAN.