France-IX Portal
22/05/2015
Franck Simon, MD at France-IX, talks to Capacity about partnership opportunities in the Middle East and Africa.
What opportunities are there for opening up Africa and the Middle East in terms of connectivity?
Perhaps the most significant opportunity for enhancing connectivity in Africa and the Middle East is through Marseille. A handful of cables from the MEA region (SEA-ME-WE 4 and AAE-1 among others) are landing there and other cables are being built (the SEA-ME-WE 5 cable for instance, which is due in 2016 and will add 24Tbps), offering a great deal of access to Europe and its peering opportunities.
Our IXP in Marseille actually represents better connectivity for many providers in the Middle East than if there were a regional IXP, because the logistics and development are at different stages in different parts of the MEA region, and content hosted in the South of France is accessible quicker than anywhere else in Europe.
With regard to opportunities, we have found that while there are...
