Publicado originalmente em: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/ixbr-fortaleza-surpasses-6-tbps-peak-traffic-strength-moreiras-fbwnf
IX.br Fortaleza, CE, reached a historic milestone: 6 Tbps of peak traffic. This achievement consolidates the Internet Exchange Point (IXP) in the capital of Ceará as the second largest in Brazil and one of the largest IXPs in the world, reinforcing its strategic importance for Internet infrastructure both in Brazil and internationally.
Fortaleza currently hosts 832 Autonomous Systems (ASNs), with 716 visible in the Route Server tables (according to https://lg.ix.br). The platform includes 11 PIX (physical interconnection locations in different datacenters — such as Etice, Vtal, Giga Mais, RNP, Eletronet, BR Digital, Ascenty, Angola Cables, Hostweb, Cirion and Telxius) and 17 CIX (shared port providers such as BR Digital, ITS, Alares Internet, G8, Aloha, Aranet Play, BBG Telecom, BitNet, Open X, Inforbarra, ProveNET, Smart Soluções, TexNet Telecom, AllNet, Boomerang Telecom, Atual Telecom and St1 Internet).
Out of the 8,592 Brazilian ASNs announcing prefixes in the global BGP table, 7,869 advertise routes directly or indirectly (through upstream ASNs) in Fortaleza — that’s more than 90% of all national networks.
A consistent trajectory of growth
This latest record didn’t come out of nowhere. It reflects years of consistent expansion: back in 2018, Fortaleza celebrated its first 100 Gbps peak. By 2023, the local exchange already exceeded 4 Tbps and entered the top 10 largest IXPs in the world. Now, with over 6 Tbps, we are witnessing not only technical growth, but also a transformation in Brazil’s Internet traffic distribution: less centralized in São Paulo and increasingly spread across the country — especially into the Northeast region.
This decentralization results from a combination of sound policy choices, infrastructure investment, the proactive role of NIC.br, and the maturity of Brazil’s multistakeholder Internet governance model under the Brazilian Internet Steering Committee. Fortaleza, with its privileged landing of submarine cables from Europe, Africa and North America, has emerged as an international interconnection hub, enhanced by its vibrant local ecosystem of datacenters, CDNs, telecoms, and independent network operators.
Redundancy and content: Fortaleza as São Paulo’s technical backup
More than just a regional hub, IX.br Fortaleza has increasingly been adopted by ASNs across the country as a redundant and resilient alternative to São Paulo, including major access providers, CDNs, universities, carriers, and corporate networks.
Geographical analysis shows that a large portion of ASNs connected in Fortaleza are also present in São Paulo, enabling alternative routing paths and operational continuity in case of failures, congestion, or maintenance.
Fortaleza is also home to a rich ecosystem of content delivery. At least 20 global CDNs and content providers maintain a local presence — including Google, Netflix, Meta (Facebook/Instagram), Akamai, Microsoft, Globo, Amazon, Azion, Cloudflare, Fastly, Twitch, UPX, Edgeuno, Alibaba Cloud CDN, Bytedance (TikTok), Tencent, CDNetworks, CDN77, GoCache and SingularCDN.
This guarantees low-latency access to popular content not just for Northeast Brazil, but also for other regions — without relying exclusively on São Paulo.
Fortaleza has become a resilient and scalable node in Brazil’s Internet infrastructure — and an essential piece for any international CDN or provider aiming to optimize performance and reach in Latin America.
IX Fórum Fortaleza 2025: beyond peering
In this context, we invite you to join us for the IX Fórum Fortaleza 2025, happening on June 4–5, followed by the BCOP Technical Forum on June 6. The event will feature a high-level technical agenda, including: BGP communities and traffic engineering at IX.br, Segment Routing at IX.br, AI-driven automation in customer service, Submarine cables, IP and URL blocking (legal and regulatory impacts), Migration from VPN to eVPN, 6 GHz spectrum and Wi-Fi 7.
The event is free of charge, open to all participants — both on-site in Fortaleza (Fábrica de Negócios) and streamed online with simultaneous translation in English and Portuguese: https://fortaleza.forum.ix.br – NICbrVideos on YouTube
A governance model worth defending
The success of IX.br and the evolution of Fortaleza as a major Internet hub are directly linked to Brazil’s Internet governance model: collaborative, multistakeholder, technically driven, and committed to the public interest. This model is under pressure from proposed regulations and legislative initiatives (see https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-worlds-largest-internet-exchange-threat-brazil-moreiras-yhyef/) which risk undermining the autonomy and neutrality that made IX.br possible in the first place.
Defending this model means defending the future of the Internet in Brazil.
Let’s celebrate Fortaleza’s 6 Tbps peak — and reaffirm our commitment to an open, distributed, resilient and technically sound Internet for all.