T&T closer to Internet Exchange Point

The Board of the T&T Internet Exchange (TTIX) has entered into a hosting agreement with Fujitsu Caribbean (Trinidad) Limited, moving one step closer to development of an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) for T&T. Fujitsu will be providing rack space and the IXP switch at its data center in Barataria free of charge for four years, making a significant contribution to the development of critical ICT infrastructure for this country.

Kurleigh Prescod, chairman of TTIX, said: “We are overwhelmingly pleased with this contribution by Fujitsu to aid in the development of Trinidad and Tobago’s first Internet Exchange Point, and we look forward to partnering with Fujitsu over the next four years and beyond to make the IXP a success.” Jean-Paul Dookie, executive vice president of Government Business for Fujitsu, Trinidad said of the agreement: “Fujitsu’s collaboration with the TTIX to establish the Trinidad and Tobago IXP is a demonstration of our commitment and brand promise, ‘shaping tomorrow with you’. We view the TTIX as an essential building block towards the development of the Trinidad and Tobago knowledge economy, through the efficiency enabled for local content creation and collaboration, through this peering point. By hosting the technology in our robust Tier III Uptime Certified Data Centre in Barataria, we are delighted to support these efforts and serve as the home for the IXP.” 

The IXP is a critical component of broadband infrastructure necessary for development of a knowledge-based society driven by adoption of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and encouragement of locally-hosted Internet applications. It will increase the robustness and privacy of local communications between end users, reduce the reliance on international network facilities for exchanging native Internet traffic, and deliver improvements in the quality of Internet access to consumers in T&T for services and local content.

The T&T Internet Exchange (TTIX) is a non-profit company comprising the seven major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in the country and has been established to set up an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) which will facilitate the exchange of local Internet traffic between the ISPs.  There are currently seven IXPs in the Caribbean in Curacao (AMS-IX), St Maarten (OCIX), Grenada (GREX), British Virgin Islands (BVIX), Haiti, St Lucia (SLIX) and Dominica (DANIX). TTIX is working towards establishing the IXP in T&T in the first half of this year.