AWS expands 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps Direct Connect options near Manchester

AWS announced on October 21, 2026, an expansion of 10 Gbps and 100 Gbps dedicated Direct Connect connections with MACsec encryption capabilities at Equinix MA3 near Manchester, England. The update expands connection options at an existing Direct Connect location; it does not announce a new location. (AWS announcement)

Availability and regional reach

AWS announced the expanded options as available on October 21. The company says customers can establish private, direct network access from MA3 to all public AWS Regions except those in China, as well as AWS GovCloud Regions and AWS Local Zones.

According to AWS, MA3 is the third Direct Connect location in England offering 100 Gbps connections with MACsec capabilities. The announcement is specific to MA3, rather than an upgrade announcement covering every English Direct Connect site. (AWS announcement)

What engineers should evaluate

Direct Connect provides a private physical network connection between AWS and a customer’s data center, office or colocation environment. AWS says these connections can provide a more consistent network experience than connections over the public internet; the announcement does not quantify an application-performance improvement. (AWS announcement)

For teams considering MA3, treat this as a location-and-capacity update, not a complete deployment specification. Before committing to a connection or scheduling an upgrade:

• Size capacity against the workload. Assess expected demand and constraints elsewhere in the network rather than choosing on port speed alone.
• Verify encryption requirements. Confirm how MACsec must be configured and which links it protects. The announcement describes a capability, not the configuration or encryption coverage of a particular deployment.
• Confirm procurement details. Obtain pricing, port availability and provisioning estimates for the intended deployment before setting a migration date.