Traffic increases and new peaks at DE-CIX exchanges

The consistently high average data traffic has been the new normal for the past few months and we have seen an increase in overall data traffic and have hit new peaks in many of our Internet Exchanges worldwide. Video conferencing is still in high demand, as are various streaming services. Internet users also tend to be online more frequently and for longer periods during the day.

Real life events impact Internet traffic

In Frankfurt, the Internet traffic transmitted at peak times went by more than 10 percent. We also had a new all-time peak of 9.2 Terabits per second (Tbps) in late September, slightly up from the previous 9.1 Tbps. 

At some of our regional exchanges in Germany, such as DE-CIX Dusseldorf, traffic has grown by more than 20 percent (measured according to data throughput). In Munich, where we did a big infrastructure upgrade this summer and added a new enabled site, the traffic has more than doubled to 73 Gigabit per second (Gbps) and is now higher than at the beginning of the pandemic lockdowns in March. Throughout the summer we also saw peaks in Hamburg which seem to have coincided with football matches. The highest peak was 156 Gbps – a jump of more than 70 percent compared to the previous record.

Steady growth in New York

During the pandemic lockdown in March and April, we registered a massive increase of 120 percent in the number of users of video on demand services at DE-CIX Madrid. This is the biggest Internet Exchange in Southern Europe, where the peak traffic is currently at 520 Gbps.

In August, DE-CIX Marseille reached a new all-time traffic peak of 104 Gbps. This was the first time we crossed the 100 Gbps threshold at the exchange and there are currently over 100 ASNs connected. Also, in Palermo the traffic has increased and the new peak is over 50 Gbps.  

Outside Europe, DE-CIX India has seen an increase in overall data traffic of more than 20 percent compared to the time before Covid-19 measures. In North America, the traffic levels in our exchanges are growing by the week. In September, we hit new an all-time peak at DE-CIX New York of 725 Gbps, and in Dallas of 170 Gbps. Dallas has more than doubled its traffic this year, the growth in New York has been constant in its five years of existence. Reaching the 1 Terabit per second barrier will be just a matter of time.

• Read more in our article "Why the Internet holds firm: Internet infrastructure at time of Covid-19"