NATURAL STATE
COMMUNITY
INTERNET EXCHANGE
WHY ARKANSAS NEEDS AN EXCHANGE
The Cost of No Local Peering
Arkansas ISPs pay tens of thousands of dollars every month to out-of-state providers just to exchange traffic with each other. Two internet service providers located a mile apart in Little Rock route their traffic through Dallas, adding latency, cost, and dependency on networks that have no stake in Arkansas's future.
Meanwhile, billions in datacenter investment is arriving in the state — with major facilities planned across Arkansas. But without a local exchange point, these massive investments remain isolated islands. Arkansas is one of the only states in the country without an internet exchange point, and the cost of that gap is measured in dollars leaving the state every single day.
MONEY LEAVING ARKANSAS
ISPs pay tens of thousands monthly to exchange local traffic through Dallas, Kansas City, and Atlanta instead of keeping dollars in state
NO LOCAL PEERING
Arkansas is one of the few states in the country with zero internet exchange points — no neutral place for networks to connect locally
MISSED OPPORTUNITY
Billions in datacenter investment arriving with no local fabric to connect it — hyperscale presence without interconnection infrastructure
THE NATURAL STATE SOLUTION
NEUTRAL EXCHANGE
Carrier-neutral meeting point where Arkansas networks connect directly instead of paying out-of-state intermediaries to exchange local traffic
COST RECOVERY
Non-profit 501(c)(3) pricing covers operations only. No shareholder profits, no investor pressure — just predictable, transparent fees
LOCAL CONTROL
Arkansas-built, Arkansas-governed. Founded by native Arkansans with 30+ years combined carrier experience. Community-governed from day one
Built for Arkansas, by Arkansas
NS-CIX is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point built by Arkansas natives. Our cost-recovery model means every dollar goes to operations — no founder compensation, no investor returns. We're MANRS-compliant, community-governed, and designed to serve Arkansas networks first.
The technical solution is straightforward: a neutral exchange fabric where ISPs, enterprises, and content providers connect once and peer directly. Enterprise-grade switching with 100G backbone capacity, diverse fiber paths, and automated operations built on industry-standard security frameworks including DDoS mitigation and BGP hijack prevention.
ENTERPRISE INFRASTRUCTURE
100G backbone, enterprise-grade switching, diverse fiber paths. Production-grade infrastructure built for reliability and growth
COST SAVINGS
Direct peering eliminates transit costs for local traffic. Savings fund rural broadband expansion across Arkansas communities
CONTENT ATTRACTION
Local peering draws CDNs and cloud providers to establish Arkansas presence. More content cached locally means better performance for everyone
NETWORK
READY TO JOIN?
Join Arkansas's growing community of interconnected networks