Global interconnection platform, Asteroid, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Internet exchange point (IXP) NAPAfrica, which will focus on advancing the development of Internet interconnection in Africa.
The collaboration will see both companies work towards promoting IXP infrastructure development and supporting educational activities that will promote the growth of the African peering community.
Asteroid is an Amsterdam-headquartered interconnection platform that operates neutral IXPs worldwide, and works with parties in local markets to deliver efficient interconnection.
Established in 2012 as Africa's first neutral IXP, NAPAfrica exchanges local and international Internet traffic in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg, through the Teraco data centre facilities where it is located.
NAPAfrica and Asteroid say they will both bring their experience to advance IXP operations to various parts of the African continent, including SA, in efforts to build strong local communities and spread awareness of local interconnection in the region.
"We are proud to be teaming up with NAPAfrica to combine our competence and experience in IXPs and peering," says Nurani Nimpuno, CCO of Asteroid.
"We believe Africa holds great potential for Internet growth, but there are still real challenges to solve in terms of in-country interconnection. IXPs can play a key role in boosting that, and at Asteroid we want to play a positive role in that development."
Africa continues to face major challenges in ensuring Internet traffic is routed within the continent and not via Europe and back again, according to NAPAfrica.
The company believes more has to be done to identify opportunities for improved interconnection where IXPs can play an important role.
Michele McCann, head of interconnection and peering at NAPAfrica, explains: "We are proud to be teaming up with Asteroid in promoting local interconnection and peering on the continent. Asteroid has an efficient and highly automated IXP model and a solid team of reputable IXP experts."
Advancing Internet ecosystem
SA's Internet community has been investing in Internet exchanges for the better part of two decades and continues to do so as economies globally look to the Web to power growth.
According to experts, the presence of an IXP in a country can be instrumental in developing the local communication infrastructure, improving Internet users' access speeds and reducing latency significantly, developing the local Internet ecosystem.
However, in Africa, IXPs are often plagued by many challenges, such as an unsupportive regulatory framework, high cost of network infrastructure and lack of general knowledge on IXP best practices.
This week, global non-profit organisation, Internet Society, announced a partnership with Facebook that aims to promote IXP infrastructure development in Africa, with the objective of increasing the number of IXPs and supporting the expansion of existing IXPs on the continent.
According to Internet Society, 42% of countries in Africa lack IXPs, which means most of their domestic Internet traffic is exchanged through points outside their respective country, usually through satellite or submarine fibre across multiple international hubs, to reach their destination.
This can result in poor end-user experiences and discourages hosting content locally, which are some of the key factors towards the development of the local Internet ecosystem, notes Internet Society.
"The Internet community adopted the goal of having at least 80% of the Internet traffic consumed in Africa being locally accessible, and only 20% sourced outside the continent by the year 2020,"explains Dawit Bekele, Africa regional bureau director for the Internet Society.
"We are getting closer to that target thanks to the many activities that promote interconnection and hosting in Africa and to partnerships such as the one we are announcing with Facebook."
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