ISLAMABAD, Pakistan: The Chairman Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Ismail Shah said that the authority was fully committed towards promoting modern technologies and capacity building of Information Technology and Telecom sectors.
“PTA had established IXP, in order to help reduce the rates of domestic Internet traffic,” the Chairman PTA Ismail Shah told the state-run news agency in Islamabad.
Ismail Shah said that the primary purpose of Internet Exchange Point (IXP) was to allow networks to interconnect directly via the exchange rather than through one or more third-party networks.
The Chairman PTA said that it would also enable local networks to efficiently exchange information at a common point within Pakistan rather than exchanging local Internet traffic with outside world.
The Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Anusha Rehman had also stressed the policy which had a critical one-point agenda to connect the unconnected was being strictly followed for improvement of connectivity in the country.
Anusha Rehman also stressed the need for cooperation between public and private sectors to remove hurdles in the way of increasing connectivity.
“By keeping local traffic and avoiding international links, local operators and users can reap sustainable cost saving, provide sustainable local bandwidth and significantly improve local internet performance,” a PTA official said.
“The first Internet Exchange Point has been established in Islamabad. The way forward was Regional Internet Exchange Points in other cities like Lahore, Karachi and Quetta,” he added.
The hardware equipment required for the establishment of IXP was donated by Huawei Technologies, Pakistan.
Pakistan Internet Exchange Point (PKIX) would serve as an exchange point for all local ISPs that will help in reducing latency rates for all domestic traffic.
More than seven national telecom and internet carriers had become part of Pakistan’s First Internet Exchange Point.
