BNIX turns 30
To mark this milestone, we asked some of our colleagues to share their highlights, anecdotes and insights. Their stories are surprising, inspiring and reflect a deep passion for BNIX. Watch our video!
1995: the internet is still in its infancy and – as is often the case with innovations – set up in very rudimentary way. However, many countries are starting to recognise the need for more organisation and efficiency, and Belgium is leading the way.
That’s why in 1995 Belnet established BNIX, the Belgian internet exchange point – a platform that has been providing efficiency, performance, and stability to the Belgian internet for 30 years now, both for its participants and for end users. In fact, even this very interview has almost certainly reached your screen via BNIX.
To mark the 30th anniversary, we spoke with Dirk Haex, Managing Director at Belnet. As Belgium’s National Research and Education Network (NREN), Belnet continues to oversee BNIX to this day.
- Dirk, take us back to 1995. Why was there a need for a platform like BNIX?
- In 1995, I was still a student and the internet was just beginning to develop. In the absence of an alternative, data traffic from Belgian internet parties was routed via “transit” to the United States. In other words: all traffic between Belgian providers and users first had to go all the way to America and back to reach its destination. Expensive and inefficient, this situation quickly became unsustainable given the rapid growth in data streams. The major players in the industry at that time — such as Belgacom and Skynet — were obviously the first ones to recognise the need for local data distribution.
- How did Belnet come into the picture?
- Belnet had just been founded as the Belgian NREN and was a logical choice for two reasons: First, we were one of the very few organisations which had the required expertise. Second, as a non-commercial and therefore neutral organisation, we could also act in the interest of all parties involved. That’s how BNIX was born, dedicated to providing a stable and neutral platform for local data traffic.
- What concrete added value does such a roundabout offer?
- For participants, including major internet providers and numerous content platforms like Netflix and Facebook, connecting to BNIX primarily results in lower costs, while also delivering a significant improvement in performance. Picture bytes as cars for a moment: BNIX gives them the widest and shortest possible route to their destination.
- That also gives the end user a much smoother experience: content is — assuming there’s a good internet connection — immediately available without interruptions. Without BNIX, that would be impossible today, given the enormous data streams.
- In addition, BNIX offers a secure and legally well-regulated environment allowing built-in redundancy. In the event of international disruptions, participants’ data traffic can still continue locally via BNIX.
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"Picture bytes as cars for a moment: BNIX gives them the widest and shortest possible route to their destination."
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- What do you personally consider the most important milestones of BNIX?
- First and foremost, its founding in 1995, especially because BNIX was one of the very first internet exchanges in Europe. True pioneering work, which has always remained part of our DNA, as we were also involved in the founding of both ISPA and Euro-IX - two major milestones as well. Euro-IX is an international association that promotes knowledge sharing between internet exchanges. We are very actively involved there. Earlier this year, for example, we hosted the very successful biannual Euro-IX event in Antwerp.
- Another milestone: our colleague Frédéric Libotte was recently elected vice-chair of the board of Euro-IX. This allows us to continue steering the future of internet exchanges from the driver’s seat.
- What are you most proud of?
- In general, we’ve succeeded in offering an extremely stable platform with highly professional service for 30 years, with a small and highly driven team. That’s partly because we’ve always proactively scaled up and innovated, which always kept us ahead of potential saturation. The fact that BNIX was able to handle the enormous, and above all completely unexpected, increase in internet traffic during COVID without any issues is an achievement to be very proud of.
- And since the very recent renewal of the platform, we are fully confident that BNIX is ready for all evolutions - expected as well as unexpected - that lie ahead.
- Also worth mentioning: the new platform contributes to a significant reduction in the ecological footprint of the Belgian internet. Thanks to technological innovation, the number of ports offered on the new platform consumes only a third of the energy compared to the previous platform. It is only right that we also pay attention to matters such as these.
- We’ll get to the future in a moment, but first let’s look at the evolution of the internet as a whole: how have you experienced it over the past 30 years?
- We obviously can’t ignore the general exponential growth of data traffic. Not too long ago, a 100 gigabit port was a curiosity, today it’s the norm. Our habits have also changed though. "In the past, data peaks on BNIX mainly occurred in the evenings, but that has completely changed — especially due to the rise of smartphones, streaming, and remote work. For several years now, we’ve seen a consistently high plateau from morning to evening. Users are constantly consuming content, and we see that reflected on our platform.
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"In the past, data peaks on BNIX mainly occurred in the evenings, but that has completely changed — especially due to the rise of smartphones, streaming, and remote work. For several years now, we’ve seen a consistently high plateau from morning to evening."
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- Can you illustrate that with figures?
- Ten years ago, in 2015, BNIX peaks were “only” 120 Gbit/s, while since COVID they easily reach 500 Gbit/s — four times more than just five years ago. The demand for capacity among our participants has also increased: between 2010 and 2015 alone, the number of 10 Gbit/s connections grew from 15 to 49.
- By the way, every year in January we make headlines with the most striking BNIX figures from the past year — they are the main reference point for assessing internet trends in Belgium.
- Would you dare predict what data traffic will look like in 2030?
- I’m not even going to try. Technology develops incredibly fast and sometimes in unpredictable ways. What is certain, however, is that various developments will continue to increase internet traffic. The ever-increasing resolution of content, for example. And AI, of course. When generative AI becomes truly integrated into our daily lives, it could have a huge impact on the required bandwidth. And the number of tasks which companies will run through AI will only increase: will that mainly happen in the cloud or rather on-site? In the first case, we can expect enormous additional data streams.
- And what impact will that have on BNIX?
- BNIX is, as always, fully ready for that increase in internet traffic — especially since the recent renewal of the platform. How long this will remain the case is uncertain, but of course we’re keeping a close eye on it.
- There are also some other opportunities and challenges. For example, data centres in the Netherlands are gradually reaching saturation, which means digital players are increasingly turning to Belgium. Our country still has room for the creation of data centres and therefore capacity. That certainly offers opportunities for BNIX to offer additional exchange points.
- Finally, the needs of our participants are also evolving, beyond just increasing traffic. Anticipating that with a continuously improving service offering will remain crucial.
- Which role does the current geopolitical climate play in this?
- Digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important. As a national exchange point, BNIX is not only a crown jewel of Belgium’s digital landscape, but also essential infrastructure that must comply with a range of legal obligations and security standards." Compliance with these is monitored by our authorities, including BIPT, to ensure the platform remains safe, reliable, and continuously operational.
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"Digital sovereignty is becoming increasingly important. As a national exchange point, BNIX is not only a crown jewel of Belgium’s digital landscape, but also essential infrastructure that must comply with a range of legal obligations and security standards."
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