Frankfurt am Main/Aqaba, 12 April 2022. DE-CIX, the world’s leading Interconnection Platform operator, and Aqaba Digital Hub, a landmark project that taps into the growing demand for modern digital transformation in Jordan and the MENA Region, today announced a strategic partnership for the future operations of “AqabaIX powered by DE-CIX”. The existing AqabaIX infrastructure, with 13 networks connected and over 100 Gbps of peak traffic, will be upgraded to the award-winning DE-CIX Apollon interconnection infrastructure and operated by DE-CIX under the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) model. Technical implementation of the upgrade is planned for the end of 2022. The new interconnection platform will serve as a new option for data flows between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe and as a hub for regional connectivity.
“As a new corridor between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe as well as the enabler of regional connectivity between Jordan and its neighboring countries, AqabaIX represents a truly neutral crossroads for international data traffic. Jordan is home to an exciting tech scene, and its economic stability offers a secure investment environment for companies interested in the region,” comments Marco Brandstaetter, Regional Director, Middle East, and India at DE-CIX. “At DE-CIX, we are proud to be supporting local and regional interconnection in this way and enabling the already strong digital economy of Jordan to further prosper through high-quality interconnection services.”
An educational hub for the ICT sector and contributor to around 75% of Arabic content on the Internet, Jordan is a neutral and stable economic center with an active tech and startup scene. Located on the Gulf of Aqaba, an arm of the Red Sea, AqabaIX is strategically situated at the crossroads between multiple Middle Eastern countries and is also home to a landing station for submarine cable systems.
Commenting on the new partnership with DE-CIX, Eyad Abu Khorma, Founder and CEO of Aqaba Digital Hub, said: “We are proud to announce our newly formed partnership with DE-CIX, the world’s leading provider of carrier and data center interconnection services. This monumental partnership will aim to deliver an astounding service from high-performance data exchange between participating networks – all to serve ISPs, CDNs, content networks, cloud networks, and enterprise networks. Not only will it lower the latency of data traffic but it will also improve the performance of cloud-based resources and applications.”
DE-CIX, home to the largest neutral interconnection ecosystem in the world, celebrates its 10th anniversary of being active in the region this year. AqabaIX itself is the 9th Internet Exchange announced under the DaaS model, joining such success stories as the UAE-IX powered by DE-CIX in Dubai (launched in 2012) and SEECIX powered by DE-CIX in Athens. The DaaS program includes a set of services – such as installation, maintenance, provisioning, marketing, and sales support – designed for data center operators or other third parties to create their own Internet Exchange and interconnection platform fully operated by DE-CIX. DE-CIX delivers the technical set-up needed for an Internet Exchange as a fully pre-configured and standardized “DE-CIX in a box” solution – easy to plug and play.
# # #
About DE-CIX
DE-CIX (German Commercial Internet Exchange) is the world’s leading operator of Internet Exchanges. In total, in its 30+ locations in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and Asia, DE-CIX interconnects over 2500 network operators (carriers), Internet service providers (ISPs), content providers, and enterprise networks from more than 100 countries, offering peering, cloud, and interconnection services. The combined connected customer capacity of all DE-CIX locations worldwide exceeds 95 Terabits, making it the largest neutral interconnection ecosystem in the world. DE-CIX in Frankfurt, Germany, with a data throughput of over 11 Terabits per second (Tbps) and over 1000 connected networks, is one of the largest Internet Exchanges in the world. Further information at www.de-cix.net.
About Aqaba Digital Hub
Aqaba Digital Hub is a landmark project that taps into the growing demand for modern digital transformation businesses, carriers, and technology providers in Jordan, MENA, and the rest of the world. The project utilized Aqaba’s exquisite landscape to provide sufficient services including a carrier-neutral internet exchange point, state-of-the-art fiber-optic network, hyper-scale tier-3 certified data center, and world-class cloud platform, among others to serve the growing demand of ISPs, CDNs, content networks, cloud networks, and enterprise networks, and enlist ADH to drive the digital transformation of the business to the region.
AqabaIX® is the first and only Internet exchange in Jordan, licensed under NaiTel; the telecom arm of the Aqaba Digital Hub that is strategically located in the coastal city of Aqaba on the Red Sea, and has terrestrial and submarine cable access.
For further information, please visit www.aqabaix.com
Media Contact DE-CIX:
Judith Ellis, Alexander Thieme, Carsten Titt
Global Public Relations
Telephone: +49 (0)69-1730902-130
Email: media@de-cix.net
Media Contact AqabaIX:
Hazem Al-Khoury
Head of AqabaIX
Telephone: +96265854646
Email: hazem@aqabaix.com