Nearly a year back, we told you about the development of first IXP in Pakistan. The exchange point was to be setup within two months. But following the tradition, it also did not get completed within the period. After one year, the project has finally been established and the Internet Exchange Point is now active.

As told earlier, Internet Exchange Point is a physical structure that exchanges local internet traffic within the country between ISPs and CDNs. Till now, Pakistani traffic was routed through foreign internet exchanges. This results in lower pings and reduced latency rates.  The establishment of IXP was a major part of Telecommunication Policy 2015. As mentioned in the policy,

Internet and other traffic will be exchanged within Pakistan using local peering or exchange points as far as it is possible to do so, recognizing that the use of international peering points in other countries imposes an unnecessary cost burden and a potential security risk.

PTA will take appropriate measures in consultation with stakeholders to encourage establishment of local peering and exchange points of IP traffic on legally established gateways in Pakistan.

This Internet Exchange Point will also benefit local hosting companies, data centers, service providers and companies. Moreover, the exchange will minimize bandwidth cost for ISPs hence ensuring enhanced performance.

Indeed, this is going to make considerable improvement in internet speed in the country!