In boost to peering, Malaysia’s MyIX to increase international partners

• Decision a major step towards becoming a regional Internet exchange
• New minimum of 1Gbps port option, reduction of up to 47% for port charges

AT ITS recent 9th Annual General Meeting, Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) operated by the ‘Persatuan Pengendali Internet Malaysia’ – an initiative under the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), unanimously agreed to invite more foreign players to join the country’s exchange.

According to MyIX chairman, Chiew Kok Hin, the move to admit foreign members will accelerate MyIX’s development into a world class internet ecosystem and internet peering hub, benefiting its local members and users in Malaysia. 

“MyIX will continue to drive its local agenda, but given that almost all local ISPs, content providers and other players have peered with us, it is timely to now woo more foreign partners. This will generate more peering activity to benefit members and the local internet ecosystem, while serving as a catalyst for MyIX to achieve world class benchmarks and standards. Importantly, we will be taking a major step towards becoming a regional internet exchange,” explained Chiew. 

With the local market saturated, MyIX aims to increase its foreign membership in 2017.  As at 14 March 2017, total membership comprises 39 ordinary members, 33 associate members and 16 peering partners for a total membership of 88. Among the foreign companies that have already peered with MyIX are S.I. Group Ltd (Cambodia), TATA Communications (Hong Kong) and ViewQuest Pte Ltd (Singapore).

In tandem with the decision to increase foreign membership, MyIX also announced a reduction in port fees. The reduction is across the board for all port speeds ranging from 1Gbps to 10Gbps and will save members some 25%-47% in charges – encouraging them to upgrade their ports to facilitate faster speeds for consumers.

“MyIX remains committed to bringing down port fees for members’ benefit, with savings hopefully passed down to consumers. The reduction also enhances our overall value proposition to international players,” says Chiew.

Going forward, in encouraging members to upgrade to faster speeds, only port speeds of 1Gbps and above will be available – effective 2018 as 100 Mbps and 200Mbps ports will be discontinued and to allow for a greater number of higher speed ports.

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