Hurricane Electric Expands IP Transit Options in Greece

Hurricane Electric, the world’s largest IPv6-native Internet backbone announced today that it has deployed its second Point of Presence (PoP) in Greece at Balkan Gate, located in Thessaloniki, Greece.

Balkan Gate is a Tier III data center with 2500 m2 of proprietary built space (with planned expansion to 10,000 m2), 400 racks, 24-hour monitoring and control, a 99.99% uptime guarantee, and the full spectrum of telecom and connectivity services, hosting and servicing ISP’s, IXP’s, and carriers.

The strategic location of Greece has gained significant attention following the recent investments announced by major tech companies. Particularly, Thessaloniki's proximity to Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, and Turkey positions it as a pivotal hub, with connections extending to Italy, the Middle East, Africa, and beyond. Thessaloniki has emerged as a prime destination for connectivity, leveraging its strategic Mediterranean location and rapidly expanding network infrastructure.

The new PoP is Hurricane Electric’s second location in Greece and will provide the region with improved fault tolerance, load balancing, and congestion management in the delivery of next-generation IP connectivity services.

“We are thrilled to announce our Point of Presence in the vibrant city of Thessaloniki,” said Mike Leber, President of Hurricane Electric. “As a key cultural and economic hub in the region, the city’s rich history and strategic location make it an ideal destination for expanding our network. We are excited to bring our services closer to the businesses and communities in this dynamic area of the world.”

Customers of Balkan Gate and organizations in and around southern Europe now have a variety of new connectivity options and access to Hurricane Electric’s extensive IPv4 and IPv6 network through 100GE (100 Gigabit Ethernet), 10GE (10 Gigabit Ethernet) and GigE (1 Gigabit Ethernet) ports. Additionally, customers at the facility are able to exchange IP traffic with Hurricane Electric’s vast global network, which offers over 30,000 BGP sessions with over 10,000 different networks via 310 major exchange points and thousands of customer and private peering ports.

“We are very excited about Hurricane Electric’s decision to expand its presence in Greece, especially in our Data Center, Balkan Gate Thessaloniki," said George Nolis, CEO of Lancom. "This move not only enhances the region's connectivity services but also underscores Northern Greece's role as the digital hub of the Balkans. As a company that operates three data centers in Greece and has one upcoming in Crete, we eagerly anticipate the opportunities this partnership brings to our customers and the region.”

Hurricane Electric operates its own global IPv4 and IPv6 network and is considered the largest IPv6 backbone in the world. Within its global network, Hurricane Electric is connected to 310 major exchange points and exchanges traffic directly with more than 10,000 different networks.

Employing a resilient fiber-optic topology, Hurricane Electric has five redundant 100G paths crossing North America, four separate 100G paths between the U.S. and Europe, and 100G rings in Europe, Australia and Asia. Hurricane also has a ring around Africa, and a PoP in Auckland, NZ. Hurricane Electric offers IPv4 and IPv6 transit solutions over the same connection.