The London Internet Exchange (LINX) have announced that the supplier partner for its new Kenyan interconnection facility will be Nokia, which expands the relationship between the two companies.
LINX Nairobi was announced earlier this year, the first footprint in Africa for LINX. The Internet Exchange will be deployed from the new IXAfrica data centre in Nairobi in the coming months.
LINX Nairobi will implement Nokia’s 7220 IXR D3L and SR Linux Network Operating System (NOS) as part of its interconnection platform. The 7220 IXR D3L provides high-performance, high-density, fixed configuration with a throughput of 6.4 Tb/s in a 1 RU form factor, allowing LINX to scale its capacity cost effectively.
For LINX, the vision of expanding into East Africa for was to bring its knowledge and engineering expertise and to grow alongside the expanding digital eco-system with a future proof platform, interconnecting local and global networks.
Existing LINX members connected in the UK or US will be able to add LINX Nairobi as a new LINX interconnection location by using the IXP’s member portal. The new interconnection hub for East Africa will be offering ports from 1G to 100G from day one.
Tunu Miah is managing the Nairobi project for LINX;
“Here at LINX we are really pleased to be partnering once again with Nokia as a preferred supplier. Our previous work with Nokia for the deployment of our 400GE solution was a success and we’ve established a good working relationship with the company. We will continue to build on this, as we work towards the launch of LINX Nairobi.”
The 7220 IXR DL3 runs Nokia’s newest SR Linux, a truly open NOS that is more scalable, more flexible, and simpler to operate. SR Linux’s modern architecture enables LINX to take advantage of new technologies such as streaming telemetry and model-driven management while also integrating with its existing automation tooling using NAPALM.
Manuel Ortiz Fernandez, Senior Vice President of EMEA Webscale business at Nokia, said:
“LINX is one of the most innovative organisations delivering new interconnectivity services in Africa and the Middle East. We are pleased LINX has chosen Nokia’s market-leading 7220 IXR D3L and SR Linux, ensuring the new infrastructure built in Kenya has the capabilities needed to support the explosive growth we see in this region.”
Nokia has offices in more than 38 countries across Africa and the Middle East and is committed to deploying the next generation of IP technology across this region.
From left to right; Afif Abdallah (Nokia), Inga Turner (LINX), Mohamed El-Destawy (Nokia)
