Alabama's Internet Exchange: The MGMix Story

I recently joined Tony Porterfield, CTO for the City of Montgomery, at ALANOG-6 for a deep-dive “fireside” conversation about the MGMix — Alabama’s first and only city-owned Internet Exchange Point (IXP).

CLICK HERE TO WATCH OUR FIRESIDE PRESENTATION

MGMix (Montgomery Internet Exchange) was originally launched in 2016 enabling network operators with a presence at the RSA Dexter Data Center on 445 Dexter Avenue to peer with major networks such as Meta, Google, and Hurricane Electric. When an operator connects to the exchange, they get more efficient paths to major content providers and other network destinations reducing latency and providing a speed boost to their customers.

Unfortunately like many good ideas and initiatives, it hit a wall, and stagnated.

By 2022, MGMix was struggling – held back by things like aging hardware and little community engagement. The promise of a thriving exchange nestled in the heart of Alabama was beginning to fade.

That changed in 2023 when Tony Porterfield took the reigns as CTO for the City of Montgomery. What followed was a bold and ambitious revitalization effort to modernize MGMix and put it back on the map.

The Fireside Chat: What We Covered

This session wasn’t just a look back — it was a look under the hood and into the future. We walked through:

1. The Founding Vision

The idea behind MGMix was simple but powerful: bring major content and cloud providers closer to Alabama’s networks. Reduce latency. Cut bandwidth costs. Keep local traffic local.

2. Why It Went Stagnant

Despite a strong start with significant government backing and large content providers at the table – interest began to wain and the MGMix began a steady slide to irrelevance. By 2022, the peering fabric was dated, and the IXP was on the rocks.

3. The Infrastructure Overhaul

Under Tony’s leadership, the City of Montgomery invested in a full tech refresh and also cleaned up operational issues. This means:

New high-capacity switches.
Switch fabric extended to AUBix on redundant 100gb fiber circuits.
A streamlined onboarding process for new peers.
IX participation in AAICE (Alabama Artificial Intelligence Center of Excellence) AND MORE.

These partners brought new peers, new traffic, and new energy to the exchange.

4. MGMix, A Marketing Differentiator

In my part of the presentation, I covered how my ISP Alabama Lightwave utilizes our MGMix participation to differentiate ourselves in a crowded ISP space – we tell customers that through the MGMix, we keep “local traffic local”.

4. What’s Next — And How to Get Involved

With solid infrastructure and strong regional buy-in, the next chapter of MGMix is about growth and sustainability:

Growing participation from rural ISPs and education networks
Engaging with middle-mile and last-mile providers
Creating a truly statewide exchange fabric

If you’re an Alabama-based network operator, content provider, or municipality with a connectivity problem to solve — MGMix might just be the answer.

Watch the Full Talk

This fireside chat was filmed live at ALANOG-6 in Montgomery, Alabama.
Catch the full session and learn more at: https://mgmix.net

Contact Us

Got questions or want to get involved? Reach out:

Tony Porterfield – CTO, City of Montgomery
- tporterfield@montgomeryal.gov
Josh Lambert – CEO, Alabama Lightwave Inc.
- josh.lambert@alabamalightwave.com

Continued Reading

I have covered the MGMix before in my article “Decentralizing the Internet: The Case for Stronger IXPs in Alabama” – be sure to check it out! The Montgomery Advertiser has also covered this IX closely – hat-tip to them for making this happen. You can find links to those articles below:

JoshLambert.xyz

Alabama’s Internet Exchange: The MGMix Story