Introducing a globally recognized data center operator to Pakistan will empower the country to offer highly scalable cloud services.
Etisalat, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, has established Pakistan’s inaugural carrier-neutral Internet Exchange Point (IXP) and data center, aimed at fortifying the reliability of internet connectivity. Concurrently, PTCL will collaborate with the German data center and IXP operator, DE CIX, to manage the operations of this new data center.
The introduction of a globally recognized data center operator to Pakistan signifies a milestone, allowing the country to not only bring in highly scalable cloud services like AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure but also serve as a local content hub for platforms such as YouTube, TikTok, and Netflix.
The inauguration of the Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE), powered by DE-CIX, marks the advent of the first carrier-neutral IX in the country. Dr. Umar Saif, the Federal Minister for IT & Telecommunications, highlighted the transformative impact on the IT sector, announcing that China would route its internet traffic through Pakistan, positioning the country as a regional hub for connectivity. This strategic move is anticipated to contribute significantly to Pakistan’s economy through substantial revenue generated from internet transit traffic, ranging from $200-400 million annually.
Dr. Saif emphasized Pakistan’s substantial digital market, surpassing Italy in terms of internet user-base. He underscored the progress in fiber connectivity, including loops from Kashghar to Rawalpindi extended to Karachi by PTCL, and the landing of multiple submarine cables in Karachi, enhancing overall connectivity. The PTCL’s carrier-neutral data center, operated by DE-CIX, is operational in Karachi and holds promising prospects for localized content hosting from major platforms.
As the largest integrated information communication technology company in Pakistan, PTCL collaborates with DE-CIX, the world’s leading Internet Exchange operator. The IX, located in the PTCL data center in Karachi, operates under the DE-CIX as a service (DaaS) model and utilizes DE-CIX’s renowned interconnection infrastructure. The platform provides local peering, remote access to DE-CIX Frankfurt (Germany), one of the world’s largest IXs, and is poised to serve as a regional connectivity hub. This initiative aims to facilitate low-latency interconnection for the local network, localize global content, and enhance network stability, scalability, and security.