Raxio Data Centre Signs Pact With Uganda Internet Exchange Point

Staff Writer April 6, 2020

1 minute read

James Byaruhanga with other project members at the Raxio Data Centre construction site in Namanve.

Raxio Data Centre and the Uganda Internet Exchange Point (UIXP) have signed a deal that will expand the UIXP’s peering network into the country’s first Tier-III carrier neutral data centre. The UIXP currently interconnects 28 networks which exchange over 10GBs of Internet traffic on a daily basis.

This deal will make all of them reachable from the Raxio Data Centre with a single cross-connect on day one. It will also enable network operators to peer at multiple locations within the country.

Mr. Kyle Spencer, Executive Director of the UIXP said, “this deal represents a significant milestone in the development of Uganda’s Internet ecosystem. Internet exchange points have a symbiotic relationship with carrier neutral data centers.”

He noted that their deployment in Raxio will catalyze a virtuous cycle of growth that will make the Internet significantly cheaper, faster, and more reliable.

Raxio Data Centre General Manager Mr. James Byaruhanga said, “this partnership will provide a scalable, robust, and highly available alternative location for telcos, ISP, carriers, parastatals, content delivery networks, and corporate enterprises to peer with each other and exchange local Internet traffic/content without breaking out to the global internet.” Thereby, lowers the overall cost of network service delivery, improves routing efficiency, and increases fault-tolerance.

This move by Raxio Data Centre expands the growing portfolio of competitive connectivity options that will be available within its facility. Unlike data centres which are owned by network operators, Raxio’s neutral ownership has a direct incentive to offer its customers the widest possible array of service providers.

This ensures that they do not get locked into a specific vendor, and that pricing will be as competitive as possible.

According to reports, the Africa data center market is likely to expand at a compound annual growth rate of around 14% during the period 2018 – 2024. This growth is driven by rapid digitization of the African economy, an increasing wave of ICT infrastructure deployments, a growing youth population, and a rising middle class.