DE-CIX welcomes GRASS-MERKUR and IP-Max as Premium Partners

These services span a broad portfolio, from peering to connectivity to more than 50 cloud providers, as well as enterprise services that connect offices, locations, and data centers with low latency and high bandwidth. The premium status is valid for two years and recognizes particularly successful partners. DE-CIX also offers exclusive benefits to these companies, including more attractive margins, personal support, and funding for joint marketing campaigns.

GRASS-MERKUR and IP-Max: Added services from the neutral DE-CIX ecosystem

“Together with DE-CIX, we offer our clients even more powerful and reliable interconnection services – the ideal complement to hybrid operating models supported by our colocation, cloud, and managed services,” says Markus Dietz, Head of Business Development, Sales & Marketing at GRASS-MERKUR. In April 2024, “HAN-CIX – powered by DE-CIX” launched in GRASS-MERKUR’s in Hanover data center. The cloud exchange is connected to the DE-CIX Frankfurt interconnection ecosystem, enabling high-performance, direct, and private data exchange between different cloud environments.

“This evolution of the long collaboration – we celebrate 10 years of the partnership this year – is an important step toward ensuring top-tier connectivity. Achieving premium status confirms our expertise and allows us to offer innovative solutions,” says Frederic Gargula, Chairman & CEO of IP-Max. In 2024, DE-CIX expanded and restructured its established partner program. Under the name R3 (short for “Resell–Refer–Reach”), the operator has since intensified existing partnerships with wholesale and resale partners and is also targeting managed service providers, system houses, system integrators, and IT consultancies.

30 Years of DE-CIX: Business success depends on partnerships and networks

The partner program includes customized extras such as worldwide 24/7 service, as well as a newly added AI-powered chatbot that not only answers questions about the portfolio but also supports and trains sales teams. “Business can only be successful with the support of partnerships and networks,” says Mareike Jacobshagen, Head of Global Business Partner Program at DE-CIX. “Whether data-driven business models or digitalized value chains — society and the economy rely on robust digital infrastructure. To meet the demand for secure, resilient, and neutral connectivity, IT service providers and Internet Exchanges play a key role.”

DE-CIX is celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2025. The company launched its first Internet Exchange in Frankfurt am Main in 1995. Today, DE-CIX offers its peering, cloud connectivity, and other enterprise-grade interconnection services at 60 locations across Europe, Africa, North and South America, the Middle East, and Asia. DE-CIX is accessible from data centers in over 600 cities worldwide and connects thousands of carriers, Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers, and enterprise networks from over 100 countries. With a data volume of nearly 45 exabytes per year (as of 2024) and almost 1,100 connected networks, DE-CIX Frankfurt is one of the largest Internet Exchanges in the world. More information about the partner program (www.de-cix.net/en/partners) and the anniversary (www.de-cix.net/30years) is available online.

Other premium partners in the DE-CIX partner program include:

• Angola Cables – an international telecommunications provider from Angola operating a vast submarine cable network and offering connectivity solutions between Africa, Europe, and the Americas

• Arelion – operating the world’s #1 ranked IP backbone and offering a unique ecosystem of cloud and network service providers across North America, Europe, and Asia

• Cancom – a hybrid IT service provider in Central Europe, supporting customers to simplify complex enterprise IT

• Core-Backbone – a carrier headquartered in Germany, operating a global network

• envia TEL – a leading provider of digital infrastructure in Central Germany

• Epsilon – a global provider of network and cloud connectivity services headquartered in Hong Kong, focusing on software-defined solutions and interconnection

• RETN – a UK-based independent Eurasian network services provider, offering a wide range of connectivity services

• TelemaxX – a leading German regional provider of holistic solutions in the areas of telecommunications, data centers, cloud services, and managed services

• Türk Telekom International – a leading telecommunication operator in the CEE region, Turkey, Caucasus, Middle-East, and Asia

• V.tal – an end-to-end digital infrastructure solutions company and holder of the largest

• neutral fiber optic network in Brazil