BBIX to Participate in Regional IX Research Study on Improving Network Efficiency in Sendai and Fukuoka

December 10, 2020
BBIX, Inc.
QTnet, Inc.
J-Stream Inc.
Tohoku Intelligent Telecommunication Co., Inc.

BBIX to Participate in Regional IX Research Study on Improving Network Efficiency in Sendai and Fukuoka

〜To achieve the ideal network efficiency in regional areas～

BBIX, Inc. (“BBIX”), a subsidiary of SoftBank Corp. that conducts an Internet Exchange (IX) business, together with QTnet, Inc. (“QTnet”), J-Stream Inc. (“J-Stream”), and Tohoku Intelligent Telecommunication Co., Inc. (“TOHKnet”) will conduct a regional IX research study* on improving network efficiency in Sendai and Fukuoka.

The volume of Internet traffic has been rising constantly, but with recent changes in lifestyle behavior, such as working from home and taking classes remotely online, Internet traffic has increased at an even more drastic pace. Especially within the Tokyo metropolitan area and Kansai area, where many content providers are based, a remarkable increase in traffic volumes sent from these content providers has been observed. This sharp increase is generating major concerns for local Internet operators who need to meet the demand for large traffic volumes.

For this research study, J-Stream’s content delivery platform system will be built and placed in TOHKnet’s Sendai Central Data Center and QTnet’s Fukuoka No.3 Data Center. Each respective data center will route through BBIX Sendai Center and BBIX Fukuoka Center and content will be delivered to Internet service providers within each region. By measuring and analyzing the delivery results against results from the Tokyo metropolitan and Kansai areas, companies participating in the research study aim to find ways to improve the quality of content delivery and fault tolerance, to secure scalable bandwidth in regional areas and to assess cost reductions. All of this will be done to ultimately demonstrate how IX can help contribute to solving issues facing regional internet operators.

*BBIX, Inc. to participate in this research study as part of a contract by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, in which they selected BBIX, Inc. as one of the contractors for “Contract for Research Study on Regional IX’s and Improving Network Efficiency (Identification Number: 0049-0085)” which was open for participation in April 2020.

Overview of Research Study

1. Location

TOHKnet Sendai Central Data Center (Sendai City)
QTnet Fukuoka No.3 Data Center (Fukuoka City)

2. Content of Research Study

Assessment of Regional Content Delivery Platform	Building a content delivery platform in regional areas to measure changes in traffic delivery quality, traffic routes, volumes, etc.
Assessment of Content Delivery during System Failure	Accessing and simulating a system failure to the content delivery platform to evaluate content delivery (i.e. continuity of delivery).

3. End of Research Study

March 31st, 2021 (tentative)

About QTnet

Company Name: QTnet, Inc.
URL: https://www.qtnet.co.jp/
Headquarters: 1-12-20 Tenjin, Chuo-ku, Fukuoka-shi, Fukuoka
Representative: Kazuto Iwasaki, President & CEO
Established: July 1 ,1987
Capital: 22.220 billion yen
Shareholder: 100% owned by Kyushu Electric Power Co., Inc.
Business: Telecommunications business based on the Telecommunications Business Act, construction, maintenance and operation of telecommunications equipment and incidental facilities, Leasing, maintenance and operation of installation locations for telecommunications equipment and information processing equipment

About J-Stream

Company Name: J-Stream Inc.
URL: https://www.stream.co.jp/
Headquarters: 2-5-6 Shiba, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Toshio Ishimatsu, President
Established: May 29, 1997
Capital: 2.18 billion yen
Major shareholders: transcosmos inc., KDDI Corporation
Business: (1) Service of the delivery of web-based video data and all other variety forms of information, (2) Service providing related to the web-based membership information management, e-commerce and settlement service, (3) Service of planning, production, sales and licensing of variety forms of digital contents and publication, (4) Service of planning, development, operation, production, sales, import/export, leasing and agent business of web-based hardware, software and additional service thereof, (5) Service of Planning, production, agency business related to advertisement, (6) Activities related to (1)~(5) above mentioned, including consultation, survey, analysis, research etc.

About TOHKnet

Company Name: Tohoku Intelligent Telecommunication Co., Inc.
URL: https://www.tohknet.co.jp
Headquarters: 3-7-1, Ichibancho, Aoba-ku, Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture
Representative: Naoto Miura, President & CEO
Established: October 27, 1992
Capital: 10 billion yen
Shareholder: 100% owned by Tohoku Electric Power Co., Inc.
Business: Telecommunications business; construction, maintenance & management of telecommunications equipment; development, leasing, sales, maintenance & management of computer hardware/software

About BBIX

Company Name: BBIX, Inc.
URL: https://www.bbix.net/en/
Headquarters: 1-9-10 Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Keiichi Makizono, President & CEO
Established: June 13, 2003
Capital: 100 million yen
Shareholder: 100% owned by SoftBank Corp.
Business: Telecommunications operator under Japan’s Telecommunications Business Act; leasing, maintenance & management of telecommunications equipment; development, sales, maintenance & management of computer hardware/software

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