IXLeeds to put Leeds on the "Internet Map"

IXLeeds to put Leeds on the "Internet Map"

LEEDS, England, September 20, 2011/PRNewswire/ --

    The Leeds Interconnect community is pleased to announce the formation of
IXLeeds Ltd, a neutral, not-for-profit Internet Exchange Point (IXP) based
in Leeds (United Kingdom).

    At a meeting on the 12th September held at aql (the site of the IXP) the
first thirteen founding members of IXLeeds signed the Memorandum of
Association and Articles of Association to incorporate the newly formed
organisation.

    The IXP is the result of many years of collaborative work by many
organisations and grew out of a working group set up in 2008 to promote
collaboration between network operators in Yorkshire.

    Communications Minister Ed Vaizey said:

    "I'm delighted to hear of the success of IXLeeds. The project is a prime
example of the industry cooperating for the benefit of all parties and it
will help put Leeds and Yorkshire on the 'Internet Map'."

    Rob Evans, current Chair of IXLeeds said "IXLeeds not only facilitates
the interconnection between network operators and improves internet
resilience in the region, it also provides a community for collaboration."

    Dr Adam Beaumont, MD of aql, one of the first founding members and host
of the IXP said "We're excited to support IXLeeds and to play our part in
making it happen. It's a success story of co-operation between all the
significant regional operators and will bring benefits to both the ISP's and
the end users."

    An IXP is a physical network infrastructure operated by a single entity
with the purpose to facilitate the exchange of Internet traffic between
Autonomous Systems. In order to provide access to the 'global Internet', an
Internet Service Provider (ISP) must have connectivity to the global
Internet itself. Any ISP that is connected to the IXP can exchange traffic
with any of the other ISPs connected to the IXP. By enabling traffic to take
a more direct route between many ISP networks, an IXP can improve the
efficiency of the Internet, resulting in a better service for the end user.

    IXLeeds is operated for the benefit of the member ISPs and the Internet
community at large.

    For more information please see:

    http://www.ixleeds.net

    If you are interested in joining the exchange or have further questions
please contact info@ixleeds.net

    Notes to Editor :

    About aql(R)

    Any mention of aql should be used in lowercase letters as it is a
trademarked name and device. I have bolded all occurrences of this trademark
as a guideline.

    aql, established in 1998, is a UK based, regulated telecommunications
operator. aql specialise in providing secure, reliable wholesale access to
the fixed and mobile networks to government, enterprise and to innovators.
The numbers speak for themselves - aql is responsible for the voice services
and numbering on over 42 million numbers for over 20 UK ISP's, routes over 1
million SMS text messages per day and has enabled over 40 UK MVNO (virtual
mobile) brands. aql also own and operate a significant national data network
and secure datacentre sites within the UK.

    aql(R) is a registered trademark, device and trading style of (aq)
limited.

    aql.com [http://www.aql.com ]

   
    IXLeeds Press contact:
    Emma Frost,
    +44(0)7757-69-03-08,
    info@ixleeds.net

    aql Press Contact:
    Dan Ray,
    +44(0)1133-20-30-85
    Email:  Dan.ray@uk.aql.com

Source: aql

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