Dublin , Ireland , Hosting365, Ireland 's largest independent hosting company, today announces it has been accepted as a member of INEX, (Internet Neutral Exchange), Ireland 's only Internet Exchange, located in Dublin . Hosting365 is the first non-ISP organisation to join.

INEX's objective is to provide high-speed, reliable and resilient IP traffic exchange facilities for both Irish and International Internet service providers, allowing them to route IP traffic efficiently within Ireland and thereby provide faster, more reliable and lower-latency Internet access for their customers.

The acceptance of Hosting365 as its tenth member marks a milestone for the Association. Membership is open to any organisation that has its own Autonomous System (AS) number for routing IP traffic. Although INEX has traditionally recruited Irish-based ISPs, it is now actively seeking to increase its membership by attracting multinational digital content providers located in Ireland , overseas based ISPs, carriers and hosting companies.

Barry Rhodes, General Manager of INEX , welcomed Hosting365 as the newest member of the Exchange. “Internet users are becoming increasingly more sophisticated,” he says. “They require high-speed Internet connectivity services without contention.

“Being a Member of INEX enables service provider to peer their customers' IP traffic with other Members, thereby keeping it in the country. If an ISP is not a member of INEX, then it is likely that some of its traffic is probably routed out of Ireland (e.g. through LINX in London or AM-SIX in Amsterdam ) and back again, causing unnecessary latency delay and having a negative impact of the user experience.

By peering with other carriers, ISPs and content providers through the INEX Internet Exchange, organisations can cut their transit costs (peering is generally free) and also benefit from better performance. Members also benefit by having a 'voice' in the development of the industry as all . Members of INEX, a not-for-profit, neutral association have a vote, no matter what their size.

Rhodes says: “We aim to promote this advantage of being on the inside of the Internet Services 'community', with first hand knowledge of what is going on.”

"As an important element of Ireland 's national telecommunications infrastructure the INEX has embarked on a phase of expansion which will consolidate our role as an international-class, neutral Internet Exchange. We are pleased to welcome Hosting365 to the Association and congratulate them on their foresight in providing their customers with national and international IP peering opportunities to further improve their Internet experience. We look for more concerned companies to follow suit."