Two of the major Italian Internet eXchange Points start from Sicily to create a bridge to connect the Mediterranean area.
Promote the deployment of Ultra Broadband in Italy. This is the objective of the agreement between Top-IX and NaMeX, two of the major Italian Internet eXchange Points (IXP) who plans to create a bridge to connect the Mediterranean area, starting from the newly born aggregation point in Palermo.
NaMeX and Topix have created a new service, IXPConnect, that has the dual target of putting the IP networks of the emerging markets in touch with the heart of the Italian Internet, and of offering new development opportunities for the network, in the areas that suffer a major digital divide, with the aim of improving the overall national and international connectivity of our country.
The two IXP’s, whose members are the major domestic and international operators, have developed a service that allows the local Internet Service Provider (ISP) to interconnect to the large neutral Internet access points in Rome and in Turin from their native territories, by creating local aggregation points that act as facilitators and enablers for the development of broadband services and of digital infrastructure in areas with less coverage.
The first aggregation point has been opened in Palermo, within the Sicily Hub, the new datacenter of Telecom Italia Sparkle, that connects in a single location all the backhauls to the subsea cables that land in Sicily and allow to reach Europe from the Mediterranean countries, Middle East and Asia, with active cooperation from Brocade who has supplied the equipment.
The large operators who arrive in Sicily using the subsea cable systems will find a readily available interconnection infrastructure that can transport them directly into the heart of the important access points in Rome e Turin, thus contributing to enhance the importance of our country as a privileged point for transit to and from Europe.
After Palermo, IXPConnect plans to open other aggregation point in Italy and add new IXPs, to promote the development of Internet traffic in areas with less connection infrastructure: Campania, Emilia Romagna, Liguria, Molise, Puglia, Valle d’Aosta and Veneto will be the next regions that will host an IXPConnect aggregation and access point.
