Joburg hosts new internet exchange

The African Union (AU), in collaboration with the department of telecommunications and the Internet Services Providers Association of South Africa, has officially launched its support for the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (Jinx) to become a regional internet exchange point.

“Today marks another continental milestone of the journey towards self-emancipation. The launch of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Internet Exchange, supported by the AU, means that we are investing in modern communications infrastructure on the continent,” said Siyabonga Cwele, Minister of Telecommunications and Postal Services.

“The consumers will benefit because the regional internet exchange means that citizens will have better user experiences. It should lead to faster downloading times because the information will be circulating within the region.

“This should ultimately contribute to lowering the cost of connecting to the internet. As it stands now, internet exchange points of Africa are hosted in the countries that colonised them.”

AU commissioner for infrastructure and energy Elham Ibrahim said there were multiple benefits to the deal.

“Africa has been paying overseas carriers to exchange intracontinental traffic on our behalf.

“This is both costly as well as inefficient,” said Ibrahim. “With regional IXPs in Africa exchanging intraregional traffic locally, this will reduce the latency and save costs by eliminating the international transit through overseas carriers.”

Through the African Internet Exchange System project of the commission, member states with internet exchange points have increased from 18 to 32. The commission has further provided grants to eight internet exchange points to be supported to become regional points.

The AU grant is supporting the Jinx to set up multiple locations to facilitate its expansion to become a regional internet exchange.

– Caxton News Service