FOR MORE INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT: Steve Spencer,  (519) 851-7000 or email info@lonix.net    

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Strengthening London ’s Internet Community

LONDON, ON Mar 27, 2007 - A group of local technology executives has formed a non-profit corporation to make Internet Service Providers (ISPs), large corporate entities, and educational facilities in London and the wider southwestern Ontario region more cost effective and efficient. Called the London Internet Exchange Community (LonIX), its goal is to strengthen the Internet community while providing a mutually beneficial and free public peering point for all local Internet traffic.

Bernard Becker, President of the London Internet Exchange:
“This type of exchange already exists in other Canadian cities and the benefits reach far beyond its members into the daily lives of residents within the community. In this era of speed and connectivity, it is becoming increasingly important for us to find effective ways to share resources.”

LonIX is designed to act as a junction between multiple points of Internet presence. Members of the exchange will be able to directly connect with one another in order to exchange local Internet traffic.

The primary benefit to members is cost and efficiency. Currently, organizations often pay an intermediary provider to handle data creating a longer data path - the longer the path, the greater the cost and the poorer the performance. Local traffic exchanges such as that provided by LonIX help contain these costs and improve performance by avoiding long detours. Users on one network access servers on another network via the shortest and least expensive path and vice versa.

LonIX will also help improve the speed of Internet traffic within London .  The shorter the distance and the fewer "hops" (routers and switches) that Internet traffic requires, the faster that traffic travels.  In addition, the presence of a local routing exchange will help reduce the amount of traffic sent to the rest of Canada and to other countries. As a result, the links connecting participating providers to inter-regional and international exchange points are more available for truly useful long-haul traffic.

London Internet users will benefit from more fluid, stable and fast connections with the customers of other local ISPs. As well, residents in London will have direct access to local content even if there are problems on the Internet somewhere else in the world. For example, a power outage in Toronto would not prevent London residents from accessing City of London services. The same would apply in the case of occasional outages on other Canadian and American networks. Even if links with the United States or elsewhere in Canada go down, sites within London that use the LonIX would continue to communicate.  Currently, nearly all Internet traffic in London is back-hauled through Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver or various points in the United States .

LonIX owns and operates the switching platforms used to interconnect exchange members. The switching platforms are a series of switches capable of handling ample amounts of traffic. These switches will be located at key points within the city where ISPs, corporations and government agencies have sufficient network overlap. One example of this would be the Toronto Internet Exchange at 151 Front Street which started out in that building in1998 with only a few members and now has a significant membership including small, large, national and international Internet Service Providers, application providers like Akamai and ISC, as well as content providers such as the CBC and the Globe & Mail, all directly connecting to the Exchange from their own facilities.

The first LonIX location is in One London Place , and with the co-operation of Sifton Properties, the initial switches will be placed at strategic locations within that building. The growth plan mirrors the success of the Toronto effort.

LonIX joins a number of existing Internet exchanges already in existence in other major Canadian metropolitan centres including: OttIX (Ottawa Internet Exchange), QIX  (Quebec Internet Exchange), and TorIX  (Toronto Internet Exchange).  Jim Mercer, co-founder of TorIX says: "TorIX would recognize the benefits of the LonIX initiative, and would seek the advantages of collaborating with

LonIX in the future."

For more information on the operation of LonIX and how to become a member, please contact one of the following directors and visit the website at www.lonix.net:

About Filogix Limited Partnership:
Filogix Limited Partnership is Canada ’s leading technology provider to the mortgage and real estate industries.  Filogix products and services are used in all channels of distribution including financial institutions, private lenders, mortgage brokers and real estate professionals in Canada to facilitate, organize, process and streamline mortgage transactions.  The Filogix network connects more than 12,500 Realtors®, 9,500 mortgage originators, 77 lender options including all major banks, credit bureaus and mortgage insurers, as well as creditor insurance companies, document management servicing and countless business portals attracting consumer mortgage applicants so they may interact and conduct business transactions.  Filogix products make mortgage and real estate transactions a more cost-effective, organized and productive process for lenders, mortgage and real estate professionals and consumers.

Information about Filogix is available on the Internet at: www.filogix.com.

About Digital Fortress:

Digital Fortress Corporation (www.digitalfortress.ca) is a London, Ontario headquartered supplier of high-availability Internet and network solutions, centered on their state-of-the-art Ultra-Secure Data Centre in One London Place . This facility is the only independently owned and operated, 5-nines (99.999% guaranteed) server hotel and co-location space in Southwestern Ontario. The company is currently engaged in expanding to other under serviced major centres as well as providing wholesale provider gateway services and serving as a host for community based Regional Internet Peering points. Digital Fortress draws upon extensive management and staff experience in network design, Internet provisioning and complex telecom systems to provide best-practice outsource solutions for businesses requiring mission critical convergent IT infrastructure with guaranteed up-time applications and web-facing platforms. Other service offerings include creating and managing aggregation and failover of client site IP data communications as well as multi-platform network consulting and design services.

About City of London :

As a regional hub for South-Western Ontario, London boasts a desirable quality of life – minimal commutes, affordable housing, excellent education and health care facilities and an abundance of recreational and cultural facilities. Named one of the fastest growing economies in Canada, London is poised for continued growth and success and is ideally positioned to reward business investment. London boasts a diverse, skilled and highly educated workforce with a seasoned customer service culture and maintains a focus on economic growth which is reflected in the increasing flow of investment dollars, commitment to development resources such as industrial land and the support of both new and old economy business sectors.

About TorIX

Please see www.torix.net

About LARG*net

Please see www.largnet.on.ca