Building MN-IX with IX-as-a-Service

In the past, regulatory factors and the limited number of licensed local telecom operators made intra-regional traffic exchange uncommon in the Middle East. As a result, end-users experienced significant performance issues associated with the long-haul routing that comes from connecting inefficiently to distant European cities before returning to the Gulf.

The cabinet of ministers of Bahrain appreciates the significant social and economic benefits of the Internet in general and the importance of exchanging Internet traffic locally in particular. Moreover, the Kingdom has the ambition to transform the country into a major staging ground for Internet companies and an Internet traffic hub that not just services the 1,5 million people living in Bahrain, but neighbouring countries as well.

Batelco and the government worked on multiple fronts to make their vision of a local Internet hub a reality. Legislative changes were put in place to make it easier for digital businesses to open their doors in Bahrain and Global Zone was created, a carrier neutral digital business platform based on a highly secured Tier III Data Centre. Setting up a local peering product in the form of an Internet Exchange by Batelco that enabled local networks to exchange traffic locally was the last piece of the puzzle. In 2018, AMS-IX was approached by Batelco to help them set up, launch and manage an Internet Exchange together.

AMS-IX supported Batelco with a new service named IX-as-a-Service (IXaaS). With IXaaS, AMS-IX has bundled all its operational, technical and commercial knowledge into a single service. The solution consists of pre-patched hardware equipment, software and wiring, scaled to the client’s needs, which is shipped to the destination where it can be set up by local engineers. After instalment, AMS-IX NOC handles operational management of the exchange (in conjunction with local engineers for tech support).

The benefit of IXaaS is that it greatly reduces the amount of work for setting up an Exchange. For the client, the whole process is a plug-and-play. Operational management is handled by the AMS-IX staff, so that the client can
focus on building relations and growing the exchange. Moreover, the AMS-IX team provides the new IX with marketing and sales support, enabling the new IX to grow during the difficult starting phase.

The new Internet Exchange Manama IX (MN-IX) went live in 2019. Since then, over 25 networks have connected to the new IX, and amongst them are some of the biggest content providers and local ISPs in the world. Customers include Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Ooredoo, Tata and Zain. 90% of all the local Internet Providers are connected in Manama to MN-IX. Since networks peer locally, a lot of traffic that used to backhaul via Europe now remains in the region, improving
the quality of the Internet in the Gulf.

• High network performance for gaming and social media
• Low latency traffic
• Optimised user experience