- In 2010, with funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and specifically through the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program (BTOP), the Lane Council of Governments constructed a new fiber interconnection facility in the basement of its offices in the Park Place building at 859 Willamette Street in Eugene. The facility was named the “Willamette Internet Exchange” or the “WIX” for short. At the time, the facility was necessary to support the required backhaul for connecting numerous schools, civic buildings, hospitals and other anchor institutions related to the BTOP project.
- The 800 sq. ft. room was completed in 2013. The room has 20 telecommunications cabinets, secured access, redundant utility and backup power and environmental monitoring. It was designed and intended to act as a “carrier hotel.” A carrier hotel, also called a colocation center or interconnection facility, is a secure physical site or building where data communications converge and are interconnected. It is not a “data center.” The WIX is further distinguished as a facility that is entirely independent of network providers, what is called a “carrier neutral” hotel. The facility is essentially in public ownership. After a gradual start, the basement room (formerly know as the “WIX”) reached functional capacity in 2019. Most cabinets were leased out and interconnection was happening as hoped.
- With substantial potential to grow and continue to expand broadband opportunities in the region, regional partners (LCOG, City of Eugene, EWEB and the Technology Association of Oregon) recognized and seized an opportunity to add capacity for interconnection at the Park Place building. This process began in earnest in 2018. With local (City of Eugene) and federal (Economic Development Administration) funds, plans were developed to expand into a 1,300 sq. ft. space on the second floor of the Park Place building. The expansion was completed in the Fall of 2020. The expansion consists of 23 new leasable cabinets. The basement and 2nd floor room are highly connected and now operate as one “facility” called the “Interconnection Facility at Park Place” or “Park Place” for short.
- The Willamette Internet Exchange (WIX) has since developed into a true “internet exchange” housed in the Interconnection Facility at Park Place. More information can be found at thewix.net.