Lumen, Google and Microsoft create optical interconnection system

DENVER – Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) today announced a new network interconnection ecosystem called ExaSwitch™, created in collaboration with Google and Microsoft. This platform empowers organizations with high bandwidth needs to route their traffic dynamically and quickly between networks, and without third-party intervention.

Current participants

This ExaSwitch project was created by the initial participants to route traffic between large internet and cloud networks. Early adopters include Lumen, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure and an additional large cloud provider. The ExaSwitch ecosystem will continue to strengthen as additional participants join, making it easier to automate, scale and manage capacity between the members.

How it works

The ExaSwitch administrator will install optical hardware at the preferred location for each participant, who will choose their own fiber source for connecting into ExaSwitch. When two participants agree to connect, they can join quickly through self-provisioning, or an API portal driven and managed by the administrator. The real-time capacity deployment allows them to easily order, modify and delete services as needed. Lumen is acting as the administrator for the initial deployments.

Key benefits

Lumen is currently operating the ExaSwitch platform in three of the largest US interconnection hubs – Chicago, Dallas and Virginia – with plans to expand to all major markets in North America with large internet hubs. ISPs, cloud providers, large content providers and enterprises can go to http://exaswitch.net to learn more about ExaSwitch and how to join this growing ecosystem.

Read the full press release here.

Lumen