IXPs to bridge the Mediterranean broadband gap
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IXPs to bridge the Mediterranean broadband gap

Two internet exchange points (IXPs) have signed an agreement to help promote the deployment of ultra-broadband in Italy.

Italian-based Topix and NaMeX have partnered to create a bridge connecting the Mediterranean area, starting from the aggregation point at Palermo.

The IXPs have created a service, IXPConnect, to put the IP networks of the emerging markets in touch with Italian networks. The service will seek to offer development opportunities for the network, in areas that suffer a “digital divide”, said a NaMeX statement, to improve the overall national and international connectivity of Italy.

IXPConnect will enable local ISPs to interconnect to the large neutral internet access points in Rome and Turin by creating local aggregation points which act as facilitators to develop broadband services and infrastructure in less connected areas.

The first aggregation point will be opened at Telecom Italia Sparkle’s data centre, Sicily Hub, in Palermo. The Hub connects, in a single location, all the backhauls to the subsea cables that land in Sicily allowing it to reach Europe from the Mediterranean nations, Middle East and Asia; assisted by Brocade, which has supplied the equipment.

After Palermo, the next regions that will host an IXPConnect aggregation and access point will be Campania, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Molise, Puglia, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto.





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