Nokia has been chosen by INX-ZA, the Internet Exchange Point division of the Internet Service Provider Association (ISPA), to upgrade and expand its exchange infrastructure across South Africa.
The collaboration will see INX-ZA deploy Nokia’s advanced IP routing portfolio to deliver new 400GE and enhanced 100GE services to its peering partners. This upgrade aims to provide businesses and internet users with faster, more reliable, and future-ready connectivity throughout the country.
Internet exchanges are vital for local data traffic exchange, helping to reduce reliance on costly international bandwidth. However, many existing exchange platforms across Africa are operating on outdated, less scalable systems. INX-ZA’s adoption of Nokia’s technology addresses these challenges by enabling a more energy-efficient, scalable, and high-density infrastructure capable of supporting South Africa’s growing digital ambitions.
The upgrade will impact INX-ZA’s key exchange points in Johannesburg, Cape Town, and Durban, starting with Johannesburg – home to JINX, Africa’s oldest Internet Exchange Point, which has maintained 100% uptime since its inception in 1996. Nokia and INX-ZA plan to expand JINX from seven to ten data centres by the end of the year, deploying thirty high-performance platforms in the initial phase. This ensures the continued high availability of the exchange while extending its reach.
Central to this deployment are Nokia’s 7250 Interconnect Routers and the Service Router Operating System (SR OS), which enable the provision of new 400GE and expanded 100GE peering services. These capabilities mark a significant enhancement in the region’s interconnection infrastructure, supporting higher capacity links and connecting multiple points of presence (PoPs) with 400GE links to improve backbone performance.
This initiative sets a precedent for modernising other legacy exchange points across the continent, paving the way for more efficient, flexible, and high-performing networks for South African ISPs, cloud providers, and enterprises.
“Upgrading to Nokia’s 400GE-ready infrastructure isn’t just about adding capacity – it’s about reimagining how South Africa connects. With this modern, energy-efficient platform, INX-ZA can deliver faster, more reliable, and more sustainable interconnection services while maintaining the uptime and performance our community has come to expect. Nokia’s technology gives us the scale and capability to keep our exchanges at the forefront of global standards and power the country’s digital economy for the future,” said Nishal Goburdhan, General Manager of INX-ZA.
“As content consumption and cloud workloads increase, Internet Exchanges are a critical component of digital infrastructure. Working with committed customers like INX-ZA aligns with our mission to deliver resilient, sustainable, and scalable trusted infrastructure in South Africa. Our platforms offer the flexibility and openness needed to meet current interconnection demands and lay the foundation for future innovation, supported by SR Linux and automation capabilities,” said Toni Pellegrino, Head of South and East Africa Sales Unit for Nokia’s Network Infrastructure.
