mixadm

As the world becomes increasingly digitised, the speed at which data is transmitted has become a critical factor for businesses who want to produce incredible end-user experiences efficiently. One of the most important factors that affects the speed of data transmission is latency. In this blog, we will explore the importance of low latency in the age of digitalisation, and how internet exchange points (IXPs) can be used to help lower latency.

What is latency?

Latency refers to the delay that occurs when data is transmitted from one point to another. It is the time it takes for a packet of data to travel from its source to its destination. Latency can be affected by various factors, including distance, network congestion, and processing times.

The role of low latency in digitalisation

In the digital age, data transmission speed is crucial. As we rely more and more on digital technologies, the importance of low latency becomes increasingly important. Low latency ensures that data is transmitted quickly, reducing delays in processing, and enabling real-time interactions. With low latency, businesses can collaborate and communicate in real-time—very important for the maintenance of business operations.

Though all businesses who rely on digital services should strive towards low latency, some industries are particularly reliant on it.

Financial services

Low latency is essential in financial services, where transactions must be executed quickly and efficiently. High-frequency trading relies heavily on low latency to ensure that trades are executed quickly and accurately. Financial institutions also need low latency to provide real-time updates on account balances and transactions.

Online gaming

Low latency is critical in online gaming, where milliseconds can make a significant difference in gameplay. Gamers require low latency to ensure that their actions are executed instantly, providing a seamless and immersive gaming experience. Without low latency, online gaming would be plagued by lag, resulting in frustration for players.

Cloud computing

Cloud computing relies heavily on low latency to ensure that data is transmitted quickly between the user and the cloud server. Low latency enables real-time collaboration and communication, making it essential in today’s digital workplace.

Telecommunications

Low latency is essential in telecommunications, where real-time communication is critical. Video conferencing, for example, requires low latency to ensure that audio and video are synchronised and delivered in real-time. Low latency is also essential in VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) applications, where delays can result in poor call quality.

Healthcare

Low latency is becoming increasingly important in healthcare, where telemedicine and remote monitoring are on the rise. Low latency ensures that data is transmitted quickly and accurately, enabling real-time remote monitoring and diagnoses.

What are the implications of high latency?

High latency can have significant implications, leading to delays in data transmission, poor call quality, and slow internet speeds. Some of the worst effects it can have on businesses include:

Poor user experience

High latency can result in slow internet speeds, delays in data transmission, and poor call quality, leading to a poor user experience. This can reduce customer satisfaction, impact brand reputation, and result in lost business.

Reduced productivity

High latency can slow down business processes, reducing productivity and efficiency. For example, slow data transmission can delay decision-making and hinder collaboration, resulting in missed opportunities and reduced competitiveness.

Lost revenue

High latency can lead to lost revenue, especially in industries that rely on real-time data transmission, such as finance and e-commerce. 

Increased Costs

High latency can increase the time it takes to complete business processes, such as data transfer or transaction processing. This can lead to increased operational costs, such as those from additional labour or energy.

Competitive Disadvantage

High latency can put businesses at a competitive disadvantage, especially in industries where real-time data transmission is critical. Competitors with lower latency can offer better services and products, leaving those with performance issues suffering from lost market share and reduced competitiveness.

How can Internet exchange points help with latency?

Internet exchange points (IXPs) play a crucial role in lowering latency. IXPs are physical locations where multiple Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and content providers connect their networks to exchange traffic. By connecting to an IXP, ISPs and content providers can exchange traffic locally, rather than routing traffic through multiple networks and across long distances. This reduces the distance that data needs to travel, reducing latency and improving the speed of data transmission.

IXPs also provide a more direct path for data transmission, reducing the number of hops that data needs to take between networks. This reduces the risk of network congestion and packet loss, further improving the speed and reliability of data transmission.

In addition, IXPs provide a neutral and open environment for ISPs and content providers to connect and exchange traffic. This encourages competition and innovation, leading to lower costs and improved services for consumers.

Some final thoughts

In conclusion, low latency is essential in the age of digitalisation, enabling real-time communication, collaboration, and interaction. From financial services to healthcare, low latency is critical in ensuring that data is transmitted quickly and accurately. By connecting to an IXP, ISPs and content providers can benefit from reduced latency, improved reliability, and increased competition. IXPs play a crucial role in lowering latency and improving the speed and quality of data transmission. As digitalisation continues to transform the way we live and work, the importance of low latency and the role of IXPs will only continue to grow.

Peering at Italy’s leading Internet Exchange

With IXPs across Italy (Milan metro area, Bologna and Palermo) totalling 10 points of presence (PoPs), MIX offers the perfect strategic gateway between central and southern Europe. The MIX interconnection platform offers customers an opportunity to exchange internet traffic with enhanced network performance, increased data flow control, reducing latency and IP-Transit costs. For more information, you can reach out to our IXP experts here.

MIX opens two new IXs in Rome and Caserta, confirming itself as the national Internet eXchange platform. Central-southern operators not yet connected to MIX will now be able to exchange traffic with more than 260 new networks.

Milan, May 9th, 2023 – MIX, the main public Internet exchange point in Italy, announces the opening of two new PoPs in Rome and Caserta to meet the needs of TLC operators in the central and southern parts of the country.

The two new PoPs are part of the national expansion process approved by the MIX Board of Directors. The process began in 2017 with the inauguration of the Palermo PoP, followed by the Bologna PoP in 2022. This development will facilitate and encourage the exchange of data at a local level, offering optimal solutions for connecting content and service providers that require reduced access times. It will also increase the availability of high-performance and high-speed access to technologies.

The PoPs of Rome and Caserta are configured as independent Internet Exchanges and will be hosted in third-party data centres, with high levels of reliability and large spaces to immediately host dozens of operators. With the opening of the regional IXs, MIX aims to enhance local initiatives and forge commercial alliances with data centre providers. Once local partners with high growth potential have been identified, MIX will build relationships with top market players and create lucrative conditions to invite these large players to interconnect locally. The ultimate goal is to encourage the creation of more delocalised communities of interests, all supported by the presence of the PoP at an IX.

In the new Rome PoP, alongside the local Exchange, the Milan LAN will also be made available for small and medium-sized operators. This will enable them to immediately connect to a further 260 networks present in Milan, and 380 in Caserta. MIX continues its mission of contributing to the development of a better performing, efficient Internet with more advantageous traffic costs for operators. For this reason, after the experience in the Caldera DC, favourable conditions have been agreed with the Data Centres that host the PoPs to host small TLC PoPs, typically required by smaller operators.

Cristiano Zanforlin, MIX’s Chief Commercial Officer, said: “We want to bring a new IX-Data Centre partnership model, widely tested with the Data Centres in northern Italy, to take advantage of all the opportunities offered by the market. The area of ​​Caserta and Naples had been under observation for several years, since it was the last in Europe characterised by a high population density and lacking a local IX. Until now, however, there were no suitable data centre structures, in our opinion, to guarantee 360° growth, nor any plans: as soon as these conditions arose, we did not hesitate to act”

Alessandro Talotta, MIX Executive President & Chairman concludes: “By the end of the year, the Centre and South of the country will be able to count on two new data exchange points in the geographic area of ​​Lazio and Campania, populated by about 12 million users and with an average download data consumption on par with the main European geographical areas with a high population density. The main objectives will be to improve the efficiency of data exchange and to encourage the development and use of the Internet in Italy. The country must plan the exchange nodes considering not only their economic but also their social value; it is a service for the citizen, therefore it must be transparent, efficient and available at a local level”.

Download press release (ita)

On April 19th, MIX Shareholders reappointed Alessandro Talotta as Executive President and Chairman for 2023-2025. The Board of Directors, Management and all the staff at MIX received compliments from the Shareholders regarding the excellent results achieved and positive changes made in the last few years.

The following ten members now represent the Board of Directors:

Vittorio Figini – Managing Director – ULI

Francesco Castelli – TIM

Marco Fiorentino – AIIP

Guido Maria Garrone – EOLO

Andrea Giovanardi – BT Italia

Roberto Loro – Dedagroup

Luca Orabona – IT.Net

Andrea Podda – Tiscali

Federico Protto – Irideos / Retelit

Giulio Francesco Signorelli – Windtre

As Italy’s leading internet exchange point, we have noticed a significant increase in live streaming traffic over the past few years. This trend is a reflection of the growing popularity of live streaming as a means of entertainment and communication, among other things.

Where is the increase coming from?

There are several reasons why live streaming is gaining momentum in Italy. Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital technologies and changed the way people consume content. With many people stuck at home during lockdowns, live streaming provided a way for them to stay connected with the outside world and entertain themselves, and the habit stuck.

Secondly, the availability of high-speed internet has made it easier for people to watch and stream live content without buffering or lag. Italy has invested heavily in broadband infrastructure, with the government’s “Digital Italy” plan aiming to provide high-speed internet to all citizens by 2026. This investment has laid the foundation for the growth of live streaming in the country.

Thirdly, the rise of social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitch has made it easier for content creators to reach a wider audience through live streaming. These platforms have integrated live streaming capabilities, making it easier for anyone with a smartphone to broadcast live.

Why does it matter?

The growth of live streaming in Italy is having a significant impact on the country’s internet ecosystem and digital infrastructure. For one, it is increasing the demand for high-speed internet, which means that internet service providers (ISPs) and IXPs must continue to invest in their networks to keep up with the growing demand. This investment will help to ensure that Italy’s digital infrastructure remains robust and reliable. 

Moreover, the rise of live streaming is creating new opportunities for content creators, media companies, and advertisers. As more people tune into live streams, there will be an increased demand for high-quality content that engages and entertains audiences. This, in turn, will drive innovation in content creation and distribution, creating new jobs and business opportunities in the digital economy.

What graphs from the MIX network can tell us about Italian streaming habits.

Ever heard of a little football competition called the Serie A championship? Italy’s biggest football league was broadcast, for the first time ever, exclusively online in 2022. Much like the rest of the world, Italy finds itself in a changing era, as we move away from satellite-based live content distribution towards an internet streaming model. This digital transformation is set to have huge ramifications on the way the country’s internet ecosystem operates. Here are some key impacts we’ve seen across the MIX network because of these changes.

March 2022-2023 

You can see a dip in traffic starting from June, and lasting until the early days in September. As workers across the country take time off to enjoy summer vacations, we experience an expected dip in enterprise traffic, with fewer video conferences, less file sharing, and reduced overall business operations. Usage remains consistent however, presumably from more school children at home online gaming and using streaming services such as Netflix and Disney +.

The impact of young people’s viewing habits is also noticeable when you look at traffic on a day-by-day basis. Take the below graph for example, which shows 24 hours of traffic mid week. After an afternoon lull, traffic rises at around 3pm, when school children arrive home. Perhaps they’re streaming educational content to help with homework (though parents know, it’s more likely some post-school Netflix). Daily traffic peaks at around 9pm, when chores are finished and food has been eaten, and many people across the country settle down to stream shows, call friends and family, or watch live content on social channels.

Let’s go back to our yearly graphic. You can see a traffic peak in late May during the Serie A final, where millions of people across the country tuned in. Though DAZN didn’t release their 2022 figures, the competition’s Milan derby in 2021 broke their record viewing figures, as 2.2 million people tuned in to watch Inter Milan beat rivals AC Milan 3-0. 

Speaking of the Milan derby, when the two teams clashed on 5 February 2023, the traffic spike was over 2 Tbs, here’s our Network Engineer Simone celebrating over on LinkedIn…

Some final thoughts

Live streaming is a growing industry in Italy that is changing the way people consume and create content. As an IXP, we are excited to be a part of this trend and to help support the growth of Italy’s digital ecosystem. By providing reliable and efficient internet infrastructure, we are playing a critical role in enabling the continued growth of live streaming and the broader digital economy in Italy. If you’d like more information on MIX, what we do, and how you can work with us, you can get in touch here.