- Details
- By Chez Oxendine
- Economic Development
Data Holdings, a tribal enterprise of the Forest County Potawatomi Community, has added internet exchange hosting to its list of services. In partnership with the Milwaukee Internet Exchange, Data Holdings has provided part of its data center campus to house an internet exchange point, which routes internet traffic through the region.
The agreement provides Milwaukee Internet Exchange (MKEIX) with complimentary space, power and network access at Data Holdings' existing facility, reducing latency and reliance on out-of-state transit hubs.
“It's like a freeway exchange, where you've got traffic coming in from all these disparate networks,” said Ryan Brooks, chief technology officer and general manager at Data Holdings. “It's a very important piece of infrastructure in the region.”
Internet exchange points like MKEIX allow networks to interconnect directly, bypassing third-party transit providers. This arrangement lowers latency, improves reliability and reduces bandwidth costs for participants, according to the Internet Society.
Studies by the Internet Society show that peering through IXPs can cut latency, the travel time of a signal, by up to 50%. The exchanges can also reduce transit costs by 70% or more.
Brooks told Tribal Business News that the partnership developed from MKEIX's need for a new space. The exchange had been housed in a telecommunications building in central Milwaukee, but the building was deteriorating. This made it difficult to do business and threatened reliability.
Data Holdings provided the right fit, Brooks said, because of its uninterrupted uptime in more than 10 years of operation. The center provides secure, cooled physical space for data servers and online cloud services.
Hosting MKEIX in the building would expose the exchange's users to Data Holdings' services, potentially creating more business for the company, Brooks said. This represented the “revenue piece” for the partnership.
“It's good for the region, but it also makes us more important and visible as part of those operations,” Brooks said. “It's a reason for people to be close to us.”
Andrew Hoyos, managing partner of MKEIX, said the move would allow the internet exchange to grow its user base and improve connectivity and reliability in the area.
“Data Holdings' commitment to providing space, power and connectivity at no cost allows us to continue expanding access, improving performance and building a stronger internet infrastructure for the region,” Hoyos said in a statement.
The move aligns with broader tribal efforts to expand and own their digital infrastructure. Tribal entities such as Mohawk Networks, an enterprise of the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, and the Poarch Band of Creek Indians have used federal broadband programs to build regional connectivity.
Data Holdings' support of MKEIX reflects a growing trend of tribal enterprises investing in digital equity and infrastructure resilience.
“This is a meeting point to build the internet — to bring all those networks together,” Brooks said. “This is something I've wanted to see since Data Holdings began operations, and we finally got to make it happen.”
