Cape Town’s Internet Exchange Extended to Three Sites

20 August 2018

In a boost for Internet connectivity in the Mother City, INX-ZA says Cape Town’s Internet Exchange (CINX) has been successfully extended to a third location in Diep River.

INX-ZA operates SA’s only community-run Internet exchanges in Cape Town (CINX), Johannesburg (JINX), and Durban (DINX) after JINX began as a project of the country’s Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA).

The announcement was made at iWeek 2018 by Malcolm Siegel, ISPA Board member and INX-ZA committee member. CINX now encompasses three sites hosted by Liquid Telecom in Diep Rivier, Teraco in Rondebosch and Internet Solutions in Parklands.

“The good news for the Cape’s online community is rolling in thick and fast. Not only did Cape Town’s INX recently become a multisite, but we now have three INX locations up and running. INXs help Internet Service Providers (ISPs) route traffic locally, helping to contain costs in a tight economy, while users benefit from reduced latencies,” explained Mr Siegel.

The annual iWeek Internet industry conference and exhibition is this year taking place in Cape Town at the Westin Hotel from 20 August to 24 August 2018.

According to INX-ZA Manager Nishal Goburdhan, “South Africa’s Internet community has been investing in INXs for the better part of two decades and continues to do so as economies globally look to the web to power growth. We’re proud to be able to play a leading role in South Africa and Africa’s bright future.”

The new INX facility is positioned close to the many Internet ISPs and others who interconnect at CINX in order to route Internet traffic locally to save costs. Internet exchange points enable ISPs to interconnect their networks so that domestic Internet users benefit from faster connections and more efficient access to online services. Network operators benefit from lower costs, resulting in more affordable bandwidth which is crucial for the development of the Internet.

Regarding CINX’s multisite status, Internet exchanges in South Africa have historically been limited to a single location requiring network operators using the exchange to invest in infrastructure connecting to that location. The extensions undertaken by INX-ZA makes it easy for Internet companies which already have infrastructure at existing INX locations to connect seamlessly to networks at new locations.

Peers at the new site will have the same peering experience and will be able to be directly linked to all existing and future CINX peers, with no additional complexity. Finally, it is worth noting that INX-ZA’s Johannesburg exchange point has provided continuous, uninterrupted services to users since June 1996.