Connection to Internet Exchange UAE-IX in Dubai Provides Alternative Routes in the Event of Submarine Cable Outages

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April 4, 2013
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Connection to Internet Exchange UAE-IX in Dubai Provides Alternative Routes in the Event of Submarine Cable Outages

FRANKFURT, Germany and DUBAI, UAE, April 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --

    In the past week a number of submarine cables suffered major outages, severely
disrupting internet connectivity between the Middle East, Asia, Africa and Europe.
Renesys, a provider of information on worldwide internet operations, reported in its blog
that EASSy, SEACOM and Sea-Me-We-4 (SMW4) submarine cables suffered disruptions. EASSy and
SEACOM outages temporarily wiped out internet connectivity in parts of East Africa, from
Djibouti to South Africa. Sea-We-Me-4, the primary internet backbone between Southeast
Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Europe, failed on 27 March 2013 at 6:20
UTC, leading to a widespread disruption of internet services from Egypt all the way to
Pakistan.

    "When submarine cables are cut, it's critically important to have access to backup
paths with sufficient capacity to carry traffic to affected destinations", explains Jim
Cowie, Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Renesys. "Carrier-neutral data centres
and internet exchange points play an important role here. Maintaining a presence at an IX
maximizes your options for re-establishing high-performance route diversity during a
submarine cable outage event."

    Since October 2012, the UAE-IX internet exchange in Dubai has been operating as an
internet hub between Europe, Africa and Asia. Almost 20 international and regional ISPs
exchange traffic here. "Higher connectivity can reduce the impact of submarine cable cuts
for ISPs and their customers in the Middle East, East Africa and South Asia", says Harald
Summa, CEO of DE-CIX Management GmbH, which manages UAE-IX. "When they interconnect at the
UAE-IX, a more robust internet infrastructure for the entire region emerges. This type of
increased resilience is to the benefit of all providers and internet users."

    Full press release: http://go.de-cix.net/uae-ix_seacable

       
        Press Contact:
        Birgit Osterholt
        +49-(0)69-1730902-53
        birgit.osterholt@de-cix.net

DE-CIX Management GmbH

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