Total customer bandwidth rises by 63%, while number of customers grows by 15%.
The UAE-IX, powered by DE-CIX, is the leading carrier and data center neutral Internet exchange operator in the GCC region. It has published its annual development report for 2020 today, which was marked by a global epidemic. In the past year, the UAE-IX experienced a massive 63% increase in total customer bandwidth – rising to over 1400 Gbit – while the customers’ number increased by only 15%. This clearly demonstrates the requirement for interconnection and greater bandwidth.
In peak traffic, a tremendous growth was experienced: a new record of over 210 Gbit/s, which was set during the first lockdown, represents a 73% increase and resulted, among other things, from the huge wave of working from home and home schooling during the first phase of the coronavirus pandemic. Further, Microsoft Azure became available at UAE-IX in 2020 through the DE-CIX Cloud Exchange and its DirectCLOUD service. In addition, due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leading providers of collaboration tools – which are essential for home office and home schooling – increased their capacity by 400% in the spring.
“Over the last 12 months, lockdowns and quarantines have created new challenges for both businesses and users. It has also accelerated digital transformation locally in the Middle East and across the globe. We are proud to have played a role in helping service providers, businesses, schools, citizens and the entire ICT ecosystem to adapt to this new world we live in,” said Abou Moustafa, Vice President – Large & Medium Enterprise Segment Large & Medium Enterprise Segment at du.
He continues: “The growth of UAE-IX over the past year is testament to its importance to the local economy and our society as a whole. Together with DE-CIX, we have enabled UAE-IX partners to adapt, pivot and minimize disruption, while providing them with a digital hub that enables local and global transformation. Our success is that partners connect, collaborate and grow in this new world.”
Given the huge customer demand, the UAE-IX announced during GITEX in December, 2020 that its award-winning Apollon platform would be expanded to further sites and data centers in the UAE, including Khazan Abu Dhabi, Khazna Dubai, and a new point of presence at Smarthub Fujairah later in 2021.
“The global pandemic has made clear that data needs to be as close to the customer and the user as possible to increase quality, security, and resilience, as well as to reduce latency. So, it was a special milestone for us to sign the agreement with du in December for the expansion of UAE-IX to five more sites in the UAE. With the extended footprint of UAE-IX, we are underlining the strong position of the UAE as the data hub for the GCC and beyond, and we are bringing data much closer to the edge,” says Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX International.
UAE-IX is the first carrier and data center neutral Internet Exchange for the Middle East that connects global networks, content providers, and network operators in the GCC region. It serves over 80 customers, including banking and financial services companies as well as a mix of global enterprises, cloud, carriers, content providers, and emerging technology platforms.
In 2019, UAE-IX deployed Apollon Advanced Platform of DE-CIX to enable Cloud Exchange and hyper-scalability features along with its global peering services. Customers are directly connected through a virtual local area network (VLAN) and can access over 50 cloud providers ranging from niches to hybrid solutions.
