Internet Society joins Alcatel-Lucent to boost Thailand’s infrastructure

• New state-of-the-art Internet Exchange Point in Bangkok
• Expected to dramatically increase Internet capacity

THE Internet Society has signed a memorandum of understanding with Alcatel-Lucent to provide equipment to support the development of the Bangkok Internet Exchange Point (BKNIX) through the Internet Society’s Interconnection and Traffic Exchange (ITE) programme.
 
The BKNIX, which will be operational in December, is expected to dramatically increase Internet capacity, encourage greater efficiency in local Internet traffic routing, create a more robust Internet infrastructure, and improve quality of service for the South-East Asia region, Alcatel-Lucent said in a statement.
 
Internet service providers (ISPs) and content providers will be able to diversify local and regional peering and data exchange by offering services through BKNIX, allowing wider access and more services to the general public.
 
“Asia Pacific is the world's largest Internet market, and South-East Asia in particular is a rapidly emerging sub-region that includes some of the largest users of social media in the world,” said Rajnesh Singh, head of the Internet Society’s Asia Pacific Bureau.
 
“The establishment of a neutral IXP in Bangkok will do much to improve inter-connectivity within Thailand as well as in the region, as the Internet is critical to all sectors of the economy.
 
“This is all the more timely as we approach 2015 and the start of Asean integration, as Thailand is a key economy in the region, and a key player in Asean,” he added.
 
The new Bangkok Internet Exchange Point will drive significant social and economic value to South-East Asia by providing a neutral community IXP, powered by Alcatel-Lucent’s 7750 Service Router (SR), the company said.
 
“Internet exchanges are a growing market for core routing, and with Internet capacity continuing to expand, their role becomes even more crucial,” said Basil Alwan, president of Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Routing & Transport business line.
 
“Thailand has a tremendous potential market for ultra-broadband Internet connections, but its growth would be improved by stronger network infrastructure.
 
“Our solution addresses that problem by providing very high-performance and high-capacity routing platforms which can meet today’s demand and scale to meet growth demands for the coming years.
 
“We are very pleased to join forces with the Internet Society, which works diligently to foster a sustainable worldwide Internet infrastructure, on this very worthwhile initiative,” he added.
 
The Internet Society is the organisational home for the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), and promotes open dialogue on Internet policy, technology, and future development among users, companies, governments, and other organisations.
 
For more than 20 years, it has been working with countries and Internet community partners to facilitate core network development, interconnection, and Internet traffic exchange, as well as assisting with training individuals to build and maintain the Internet infrastructure in their region.
 
Its ITE programme includes a broad range of initiatives to foster a robust, efficient, and cost-effective interconnection and traffic exchange landscape in developing regions of the world.
 
“In recent years we have witnessed dramatic growth of the Thai Internet community with increasing domestic content and local traffic,” said Kanchana Kanchanasut, Internet Hall of Fame inductee and vice-president of the Thai Network Information Centre Foundation.
 
“Instead of today’s existing peering arrangements among ISPs, our BKNIX's neutral IX service will provide economical direct interconnections among them. This relationship will be more sustainable in handling the vast traffic growth in the foreseeable future as content becomes the key driver of the technology.
 
“The contribution by Alcatel-Lucent and the Internet Society will enable the Thai Internet pioneering group to embark upon the next phase of the Internet development in Thailand. This IXP endeavour will not only benefit Bangkok but our experience and lessons will be shared throughout Thailand and neighbouring countries in the Mekong sub-region,” he added.
 
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