Kenya Internet Exchange
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The Kenya Internet Exchange was started in late 2000 by local Internet service providers in an attempt to cut their operating cost by avoiding the use of international links. There is a wide belief that most of the traffic on international links are local and therefore a waste. This was because without a local peering point, communication between people using different service providers had to travel abroad for peering. One example might be an individual using Africa Online who sent an email to his girlfriend across the street. If his girlfriend happened to be using Swift Global as a service provider, the email would have to travel to the US for peering before returning to Kenya.
This proved controversial as the sole international carrier, government-owned Jumbonet is a government entity. The government felt that it would lead to erosion of telecommunications revenue. Communications Commission of Kenya [1] (http://www.cck.go.ke/aboutcck/about.htm) (equivalent to the Federal Communications Commission in the US) therefore ruled the peering point illegal, and was closed the same year.
The Internet exchange was re-opened in February, 2002 and peering members have since increased from the initial four to its current ten members
External links
- The background of KIX (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/269.html)
- Government and internet phones (http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/36/273.html)