NEWS
Nokia and INX-ZA future-proof for South Africa’ s digital communities
Internet exchanges are a critical component of the digital ecosystem, enabling data to be exchanged locally and reducing dependency on expensive international bandwidth. Yet many IXPs across Africa still operate on ageing platforms that lack scalability and efficiency. INX-ZA’ s shift to Nokia’ s solution addresses these limitations head-on, opening the door to more energy-efficient, scalable and high-density infrastructure that can evolve alongside the region’ s digital ambitions.
Nokia will upgrade INX-ZA’ s Internet Exchange Points in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, beginning with Johannesburg – home to JINX, Africa’ s oldest Internet Exchange Point, which has achieved 100 % uptime since its launch in 1996.
Nokia has been selected by INX-ZA, the Internet Exchange Point division of the Internet Service Provider Association( ISPA), to modernise its exchange infrastructure.
INX-ZA will deploy Nokia’ s high performance IP routing portfolio to offer new 400GE and expanded 100GE services to its customers across the country. As a result, businesses and Internet users can now experience faster, more resilient and future-ready Internet connectivity in South Africa.
Together, Nokia and INX-ZA will expand JINX from seven to 10 data centres by year-end, deploying thirty high-performance platforms in phase one to preserve its industry-leading availability while extending its reach.
The deployment, powered by Nokia’ s high-capacity 7250 Interconnect Routers and Service Router Operating System( SR OS), enables INX-ZA to offer new 400GE and expanded 100GE services for peering partners and Internet service providers( ISPs).
Greenlight for Internet resilience framework sets Africa on path to reliable networks
Africa’ s top telecom executives are urging governments and regulators to adopt and nationalise a new Model Framework for Building Internet Resilience in Africa.
The call came during a virtual forum hosted by the African Telecommunications Union( ATU), the Internet Society( ISOC) and the African Network Information Centre( AFRINIC).
ATU Secretary-General John Omo, AFRINIC’ s Head of Stakeholder Engagement Arthur Carindal and ISOC’ s Director of Internet Development Kevin G. Chege rallied support for the framework, warning that the continent remains just one cable cut or blackout away from a digital standstill. p
The framework lays out a strategy for tackling Africa’ s Internetresilience challenges across three critical areas: networks and Internet Service Providers( ISPs), core infrastructure including power grids and undersea cables, and market conditions that affect affordability and demand.
If adopted, the framework would require operators of essential Internet infrastructure – from electricity utilities and mobile network operators to Internet Exchange Points and country-code domain registries – to draw up a Plan for Resilience within 12 months.
These plans must then be reviewed annually, aligned with existing Continuity and Reconstitution strategies, and demonstrate how resilience measures such as redundancy, resourcefulness and rapid recovery will be embedded into operations.
12 INTELLIGENTCIO AFRICA www. intelligentcio. com