Nairobi- The Kenya Internet
Exchange Point (KIXP), carrying four times the traffic that it was in 2011 - as
now the largest internet exchange point in East Africa - has successfully
relocated to the East Africa Data Centre, the first Tier 3 data centre in East
and Central Africa, as part of the drive to raise local internet traffic and
performance to international standards.
The KIXP moved
into the East Africa Data Centre (EADC) in Nairobi in December last year. With
now 30 peering members, across telcos, corporates and independent ISPs, KIXP is
now one of the largest internet exchanges in Sub Saharan Africa, saving local
providers nearly $1.5m a year on international connectivity charges, according
to the Internet Society.
Research conducted
by independent strategy and research consultancy, Analysys Mason, found the
IXPs in Kenya and Nigeria had saved millions in telecommunications costs,
raising additional revenues, accelerating local data exchange, and encouraging
the development of locally hosted content and services. The report
revealed KIXP has dramatically reduced latency of local traffic, speeding data
from 200-600ms (milliseconds) to 2-10ms, on average.
The presence of an
effective KIXP induced Google to place a cache in both Kenya and Nigeria in
2011, which has significantly increased the amount of locally distributed
content (notably YouTube videos) at faster speeds. Improved access to local
content has led to increased usage, subsequently helping to increase the mobile
data market by at least $6m per year in Kenya.
Telecommunications
Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK) CEO Fiona Asonga said KIXP had
a key role to play in satisfying the growth in Kenyan demand for internet
bandwidth and latency-sensitive traffic. KIXP is now delivering an average of
1.2Gbps in bandwidth exchange, compared with 900 Kbps a decade ago when it
opened – a more than 1000-fold increase.
In 2008, KIXP
reported an annual growth rate of over 300 per cent making it the fastest
growing Internet Exchange Point in the world.
“We are delighted
to now see the KIXP furnished in the region’s top data centre with scope to
expand as fast as it needs to in keeping pace with internet use in Kenya and
data demand,” she said.
There are four
tiers of data storage worldwide. As yet, Africa has no dedicated Tier 4
facilities, which provide the highest level of data security. However, EADC,
which guarantees 99.98 per cent availability of data in order to qualify for
this grading, is the first to reach these standards in East and Central Africa.
It is the largest and most sophisticated data centre in the region, offering
carrier-neutral, secure and reliable space for dedicated hosting, interconnect
services, co-location, disaster recovery, network-based services, applications
and cloud services to carriers, network providers and enterprises from across
the continent. It is now hosting several banks, mobile network operators, ISPs
and cloud solution providers.
The KIXP, which
was previously hosted at Bruce House within the Nairobi Central Business
District, is an important facility to the national internet community in
ensuring best practice in service delivery to its members, faster speeds for
end users and an enjoyable online experience for Kenya's internet users.
Services at the
KIXP are not limited to ISPs but also to other stakeholders such as mobile
operators, network infrastructure operators, banks, academic and research
networks, security experts, media houses and government Institutions such as
the Kenya Revenue Authority, which relies on the IXP to allow online income tax
reporting for citizens as well as clearing customs for importers.
The TESPOK CEO
urged organisations that have not yet routed their traffic through the KIXP to
do so and maximize the cost and delivery gains from the local internet exchange
point. KIXP members also receive information relating to online security
threats and vulnerabilities on their networks through the Industry Computer
Security Incident Response Team (ICSIRT).
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