Kenya Internet exchange revived

Johannesburg, 19 Feb 2002

The Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP) is reportedly live with four Internet service providers (ISPs) exchanging traffic and several more expected online soon.

KIXP, thought to be only the second such point in sub-Saharan Africa after SA, was operational for less than a month toward the end of 2000 before being shut down by the Kenyan telecommunications regulator the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK). The body apparently did so at the urging of national telecommunications operator Telkom Kenya.

But by late last week three of the original founding ISPs, ISPKenya, KenyaWeb and Swift Global, were exchanging traffic at the point and have since been joined by the local UUNet office. Several more operators have expressed interest in the project and are expected to join in the near future.

The Kenyan ISPs say they received regulatory permission to run KIXP in October last year, "after extensive dialogue and the establishment of appropriate procedures".

In December 2000 the exchange was unexpectedly shut down after the CCK pronounced that a licence was required. The service providers protested, promised to fight the closure in court and considered alternative quasi-legal arrangements.

Now they are concentrating on exploiting the possibilities offered by the exchange. In announcing that the exchange is operational, ISPKenya CTO Brian Longwe said it is expected to "act as a catalyst in Kenya for local e-commerce, telemedicine, e-learning, live multimedia and many other delay-sensitive features of the Internet".

Without the local peering provided at the exchange, ISPs in Kenya would typically see data between two of their clients, both located in Kenya, reach its destination via the US, a trip halfway around the world.

"The primary mission of KIXP is keeping local traffic local," says Longwe. "This will ensure better quality of service for data exchanged at the local level, lower costs, reduced congestion on international circuits and the right environment for local online applications."