Back to the complete issue
Thursday, 12 November 2020

TE, Amsterdam Exchange to establish Egyptian internet exchange

TE, Amsterdam exchange to establish Egypt’s first internet exchange: Telecom Egypt has inked an agreement with the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX) to establish Egypt’s first internet exchange point (EG-IX) in the Smart Village, enabling better online communication between Egypt, Africa and the Middle East, the Communications Ministry said in a statement. The EG-IX is expected to start operating once TE’s new data center is brought online in early 2021, and will increase connectivity between ISPs, content and cloud service providers and app developers.

Wait, what’s an IX? An internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a physical hub through which internet providers and content delivery networks exchange internet traffic directly, without having to rely on third-party networks. Reduced costs, lower latency (read: less delays) and higher bandwidth are key advantages. Egypt’s new exchange will run using the Amsterdam exchange’s IX-as-a-Service (IXaaS), under which AMS-IX provides the infrastructure, software, firewalls and technical support.

The exchange will be housed in TE’s Tier III certified data center, which will be the largest in the country when it begins operations next year. The center will be connected to TE’s 10 Mediterranean and Red Sea subsea landing stations, allowing it to send and receive data from more than 60 countries around the world. The EG-IX, together with the data center, will strengthen Egypt’s position as a regional connectivity hub.

Enterprise is a daily publication of Enterprise Ventures LLC, an Egyptian limited liability company (commercial register 83594), and a subsidiary of Inktank Communications. Summaries are intended for guidance only and are provided on an as-is basis; kindly refer to the source article in its original language prior to undertaking any action. Neither Enterprise Ventures nor its staff assume any responsibility or liability for the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, whether in the form of summaries or analysis. © 2022 Enterprise Ventures LLC.

Enterprise is available without charge thanks to the generous support of HSBC Egypt (tax ID: 204-901-715), the leading corporate and retail lender in Egypt; EFG Hermes (tax ID: 200-178-385), the leading financial services corporation in frontier emerging markets; SODIC (tax ID: 212-168-002), a leading Egyptian real estate developer; SomaBay (tax ID: 204-903-300), our Red Sea holiday partner; Infinity (tax ID: 474-939-359), the ultimate way to power cities, industries, and homes directly from nature right here in Egypt; CIRA (tax ID: 200-069-608), the leading providers of K-12 and higher level education in Egypt; Orascom Construction (tax ID: 229-988-806), the leading construction and engineering company building infrastructure in Egypt and abroad; Moharram & Partners (tax ID: 616-112-459), the leading public policy and government affairs partner; Palm Hills Developments (tax ID: 432-737-014), a leading developer of commercial and residential properties; Mashreq (tax ID: 204-898-862), the MENA region’s leading homegrown personal and digital bank; Industrial Development Group (IDG) (tax ID:266-965-253), the leading builder of industrial parks in Egypt; Hassan Allam Properties (tax ID:  553-096-567), one of Egypt’s most prominent and leading builders; and Saleh, Barsoum & Abdel Aziz (tax ID: 220-002-827), the leading audit, tax and accounting firm in Egypt.