AMS-IX, MDXi sign MOU on neutral Internet exchange services in Nigeria

One of the world’s Internet Exchange operators, AMS-IX and MainData Nigeria Limited (MDXi), an Equinix company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to operate and grow Internet Exchange services in Africa.

AMS-IX will be setting up an Internet exchange point at MDXi, the carrier-neutral Data Center of MainOne in Nigeria. MDXi will act as AMS-IX strategic partner and reseller for AMS-IX in West Africa.

This strategic partnership between AMS-IX and MDXi is expected to deliver improved interconnection capabilities for existing and new customers on the exchange, further facilitating the distribution of content into the West African region. With this partnership, content delivery networks, application providers, and hosting companies will now be able to exchange Internet traffic locally through the rich interconnected ecosystem of networks, large enterprises, cloud service providers, and network operators available at MDXi.

International Partnership Director, AMS-IX, Onno Bos, said: “Lagos is the ideal location to serve as a content hub for West and Central Africa, as it is strategically located in a fast-developing region with landing sites for international subsea cables connecting Africa to EMEA and beyond. We’re thrilled to work with such a strong partner as MainOne to expand this vibrant connectivity community.”

General Manager, Technical Solutions, MainOne, Oluwasayo Oshadami, said they are excited to work with AMS-IX.

“AMS-IX has over 25 years of experience building, operating and growing Internet Exchanges all over the world. This partnership is an important step in realising our long-term strategy to become a leading carrier-neutral digital infrastructure company by bringing a full range of transformative technologies to Africa.”

Oshadami said MDXi and AMS-IX are committed to developing Lagos into a regional content hub that services users all over West and Central Africa, adding that the partners intend to seek alliances to connect with local telecom operators and IX’s to help develop and support local ecosystems.