LINX Nairobi interconnection hub: Supporting digital growth

The London Internet Exchange (LINX) has announced that their interconnection hub in Nairobi, Kenya is now live.

Launched as LINX Nairobi, it has been designed as a future-proof platform that can scale and grow with the digital demand of the region. It is also part of the largest data hub in East Africa, making it an ideal location to serve the growth that is predicted in the telecoms sector. 

Networks will be able to connect to LINX Nairobi from iColo, Africa Data Centres and IXAfrica, plugging into the hub and peer their traffic to create a secure digital environment to manage their network more effectively.

LINX working to improve network latency

Kenya is considered one of the leading technology powerhouses of Africa. Having undergone a digital revolution since the early 2000s, the country has reported an average of 10.8% growth per year since 2016. The country is also well-positioned to serve all of East Africa with fast-growing fibre connectivity throughout the region, with a well-connected submarine cable network providing pathways to Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

LINX is a recognised leader in the global interconnection market. Established in 1994, their reputation as a technical leader in the industry and proven success internationally is hoping to provide future proof solutions to strengthen the rapidly evolving digital transformation in Kenya.

The organisation has been pioneers of peering for nearly 30 years and have changed the Internet and connectivity landscape in the UK. Concerning Kenya, LINX are invested in supporting Kenya with their peering solutions as well as furthering interconnection services in the future.

Peering allows networks to improve the control of their network traffic and the route it takes. It is also described as often being more cost effective than other methods of traffic management, as it works to improve network latency.

Kenya as a leading technology powerhouse

LINX Nairobi is the new Internet Exchange Point (IXP) for East Africa, located out of three data centre locations across Kenya’s capital. The IXP has the vision to further enhance connectivity and digital transformations in the country.

In addition to the data centre stakeholders in Kenya, including IXAfrica’s new data centre facility, LINX are working with a number of high profile, selected technical partners. In particular, Nokia was announced as one of the technical partners with the IXP implementing their 7220 IXR D3L and SR Linux Network Operating System (NOS) in order to deliver this future-proof and scalable solution. Smartoptics and Flexoptix were also selected to complete the technical set up.

Nurani Nimpuno, Head of Global Engagement for LINX, says: “We can learn a lot from the country’s technical advancements, for example their adoption of M-PESA with Safaricom, taking Kenya strides ahead in the way of digital finance innovation compared to other countries. I strongly believe LINX Nairobi can only complement and continue to grow the ecosystem in Kenya.”

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