Apart from a few rare locations where networks can install their own cross-connects for free (possibly paid for by increased risk), most network operators agree that cross-connect prices tend to be somewhere in the range from just about acceptable, to outrageous. For smaller operators the price of a cross-connect can meet or exceed the price of the service being delivered over the cross-connect. Similarly, the cost of cross-connects which have not been cancelled in a timely manner, quickly adds up.
The Challenge of Ordering Cross-Connects
Just ordering cross-connects can be a pain; cross-connect prices are not standardised with each data centre operator seemingly charging their own inconsistent pricing. Some even have multiple tariffs for the same product which customers can choose from. Trying to provide a blended price which includes the cross-connect fee in the service fee, eludes many service providers. In 99% of cases ordering cross-connects is a manual task, which doesn’t scale well. If you wish to review your existing cross-connect install based with a DC operator, brace yourself for highly confusing documentation.
Even those that manage the physical infrastructure efficiently, often have problems within their finance department, when trying to match cross-connect invoices from data centres with customer services. If only I had a euro for every time throughout my career somebody cancelled the wrong cross-connect.
Significant Operational Overhead
Cross-connects aren’t just expensive in terms of price, they can also create significant operational overhead and increased inertia for service improvements. In today’s age of automation where all cross-connects are accurately recorded in an inventory system, at the physical level there will always be errors where humans are involved; they will be connected to the wrong port, the polarisation will be reversed, they will be delivered to the wrong location, they will be labelled incorrectly, the fibre will be dirty, and so on. For any network operator with even a small to medium sized install base of cross-connects, the amount of time and money spent on remote hands tickets chasing these problems can be significant.
For network operators who want to add a backup service, it can be hard to justify the cost for the cross-connect because it exceeds cost of the backup service (due to the service being idle for 99% of the time). From the supplier side; if a cross-connect is required for every service they provide, and the cost of the cross-connect is prohibiting the operator from buying more services, the supplier is losing revenue.
Before even deciding to buy, a network operator may wish to participate in a trial. If the trial results in the operator not buying the service, they are often locked into a 12 month cross-connect contract and must pay the full term for a trial which ended after 30 days. This means that some providers are even struggling to give away free trials.
These problems with cross-connects affect almost every part of the company; operations, finance, procurement, and sales.
A Solution to Cross-Connect Problems
Inter.link has spent the past few years developing products and features which address each of these cross-connect problems individually, and now these products are reaching a point of convergence to provide an all in-compassing solution to the decades long cross-connect burden faced by networks everywhere.
Multi-Service Ports
All ports on the Inter.link network are multi-service ports. Once a network has one cross-connect to the Inter.link network, they can consume as may services over that cross-connect as they want, without the need to order additional cross-connects.
Automatic Provisioning
When a user places an order in the Inter.link portal, the order is fully provisioned automatically in minutes and all the details required to connect to Inter.link (a Letter of Authority, IP addresses, VLAN number, etc.) are also automatically provided to the user. This makes getting connected to the Inter.link network a quick and easy process. Any additional services ordered by the user can reuse the same port (and thus cross-connect). Inter.link provides this flexibility by supporting VLAN tagging of all services on the same port, and supports one VLAN untagged service per port.
Connecting With Networks Through FlexPeer
Now that a network is connected to Inter.link, Inter.link enables that network to connect with any other network connected to Inter.link and exchanges services. For example, two networks can use the Inter.link self-service portal to order a FlexPeer service: the first party generates a key which they provide to the second party. The second party enters this in their portal account and a layer 2 connection is created over the Inter.link network between these two operators, in real time, using their existing cross-connects. This allows all networks connected to the Inter.link network to connect with each other without ever having to buy another cross-connect.
Other Solutions to the Cross-Connects Challenges
What about a network that wants to buy services from Inter.link, but doesn’t already have a cross-connect with Inter.link? Or a network which doesn’t have a cross-connect with Inter.link, but wants to connect to one or more networks which do have cross-connects with Inter.link?
This final piece of the puzzle is the latest development we’re working on which will be ready in early 2026.
Firstly, Inter.link will offer all its services via VLANs at IXPs, meaning that any network can buy services from Inter.link, using their existing cross-connect to the IXP.
In additional to this, networks can use the IXP VLAN together with Inter.link’s FlexPeer service, to connect to other networks connected to Inter.link, which aren’t connected to the IXP; a network can use their existing cross-connect to the IXP, order a FlexPeer connection from Inter.link, which connects the IXP VLAN, across Inter.link’s backbone, to the remote network.
Already networks only need a single cross-connect with Inter.link, and soon they won’t even need a cross-connect with Inter.link if they’re present at the same IXP as Inter.link.
This means that networks will need significantly fewer cross-connects to connect with other networks, and to buy services, lowering operational overhead, reducing cost, and because all services from Inter.link are fully automated, reusing the existing cross-connect will speed up service delivery.
All of Inter.link’s products are available as trials, and some even have a free tier. This means that not only can a network already use an existing cross-connect to Inter.link or to an IXP, to have multiple services, but also trial new services, removing the risk of free trials.
