LINX and Smartoptics extend partnership for new Nairobi IX hub

21 Apr 2023 07:30 CEST

Oslo, Norway - April, 21, 2023 - Smartoptics, a leading provider of optical
networking solutions, today announced that The London Internet Exchange (LINX),
one of the world's largest internet exchanges, has extended their partnership
for its new interconnection hub in Africa. The facility in Nairobi will use the
Smartoptics DCP-404 muxponder for cost-effective 400G DWDM.

With over 950 ASNs connecting from over 80 different countries worldwide,
members of The London Internet Exchange (LINX) have access to direct routes from
a large number of diverse international peering partners. Now LINX is expanding,
building its first physical presence in Africa. The new interconnection hub will
be housed in the first hyperscale data center in East Africa, operated by
IXAfrica. Situated in the capital of Kenya, LINX
Nairobi (https://www.linx.net/news/introducing-linx-nairobi/) will provide
future-proof interconnection solutions, giving members access to a large and
growing region of Africa.

Building on years of successful collaboration with own deployments in the UK,
LINX partnered with Smartoptics once again to enable cost-efficient 400G at its
new African interconnection hub. The Smartoptics DCP-404 muxponder and DCF-F
open line system were chosen to secure cost-efficient, full 400G bandwidth.

"In LINX Nairobi, we see great potential serving the fastest growing continent
in the world where digital transformation is accelerating at a rapid pace.
Smartoptics has provided effective and future-proof optical networking solutions
along with excellent support over the years and we are pleased to bring them
with us on this exciting journey to Africa. We particularly appreciate the DCP
-404 muxponder's ability to stretch long fiber distances using 400G, its ease of
use and the useful optical diagnostics it provides - not to mention the high
rate of fiber utilization and overall efficiency," says Mark Lloyd, Principal
Network Engineer, LINX.

LINX has worked with Smartoptics since 2019 when Smartoptics open line systems
were
deployed (https://connect.smartoptics.com/hubfs/Marketing/02.Case_Studies/SO
-CS_LINX_OLS_R4.0.pdf) in their London hubs. LINX then built on this by adding
DCP-404 muxponders to their existing deployments in 2022.

"LINX provides an excellent example of how our DCP-404 muxponder has become a
game changer. In the London deployment, the muxponder alongside our open line
systems allowed an additional 400G redundant capacity to be added. In the
Nairobi deployment, the DCP-404 on its own provides a highly cost-effective
solution for delivering a single 400G wavelength between sites. We are proud to
be a partner of LINX and look forward to the launch of the exciting Nairobi
initiative," says Magnus Grenfeldt, CEO, Smartoptics.

For more information please contact:
Magnus Grenfeldt
CEO
Smartoptics
+46 73-366 88 77
E-mail: magnus.grenfeldt@smartoptics.com

About Smartoptics
Smartoptics provides innovative optical networking solutions and devices for the
new era of open networking. Our customer base includes thousands of enterprises,
governments, cloud providers, Internet exchanges as well as cable and telecom
operators. We have an open networking approach in everything we do which allows
our customers to break unwanted vendor lock-in, remain flexible and minimize
costs. Our solutions are used in metro and regional network applications that
increasingly rely on data center services and specifications. Smartoptics is a
Scandinavian company founded in 2006. We partner with leading technology and
network solution providers such as Brocade, Cisco and Dell and have a global
reach through more than 100 business partners.
For additional information about Smartoptics, please visit
https://www.smartoptics.com/

About LINX
With over 950 ASNs connecting from over 80 different countries worldwide,
members of The London Internet Exchange (LINX) have access to direct routes from
a large number of diverse international peering partners. LINX is much more than
just the UK's leading peering community. LINX can also connect you to cloud
services, help you create closed user groups and private VLANs, and gain access
to colocated infrastructure. With direct routes between your infrastructure and
your most important customers and services, you can manage all your connectivity
instances with confidence. Discover the flexibility and transparency of a member
-owned organisation, and the reliability of trusting your traffic to critical
national infrastructure.
For additional information about LINX, please visit https://www.linx.net/

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588152_LINX_Smartoptics_press_release_230421.pdf