The Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), one of the largest Internet Exchange operators in the world, and MainData Nigeria Limited (MDXi), an Equinix company, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to operate and grow Internet Exchange services in Africa.
AMS-IX will be setting up an internet exchange at MDXi, the carrier-neutral Data Center of MainOne (www.MainOne.net) in Lagos Nigeria. MDXi will act as AMS-IX strategic partner and reseller for AMS-IX in West Africa.
This strategic partnership between AMS-IX and MDXi will deliver improved interconnection capabilities for existing and new customers on the exchange, further facilitating the distribution of content into the West African region. With this partnership, content delivery networks, application providers, and hosting companies will now be able to exchange internet traffic locally through the rich interconnected ecosystem of networks, large enterprises, and cloud service providers, and network operators available at MDXi.
International Partnership Director Onno Bos of AMS-IX: “Lagos is the ideal location to serve as a content hub for West and Central Africa as it is strategically located in a fast-developing region with landing sites for international subsea cables connecting Africa to EMEA and beyond. We’re thrilled to work with such a strong partner as MainOne to expand this vibrant connectivity community.”
Oluwasayo Oshadami, GM, Technical Solutions, MainOne, “We’re excited to work with AMS-IX. AMS-IX has over 25 years of experience building, operating and growing Internet Exchanges all over the world. This partnership is an important step in realizing our long-term strategy to become a leading carrier-neutral digital infrastructure company by bringing a full range of transformative technologies to Africa.”
MDXi and AMS-IX are committed to developing Lagos into a regional content hub that services users all over West and Central Africa. The partners intend to seek alliances to connect with local telecom operators and IX’s to help develop and support local ecosystems.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
The leading provider of connectivity solutions for businesses in West Africa, MainOne, which has been at the forefront of empowering enterprises to adopt Cloud technology by connecting businesses across the region directly and privately to public cloud service providers is planning global expansion.
The MainOne Cloud Connect service ensures direct, secure, and reliable network connectivity between enterprise data centers or office locations and public cloud providers such as Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services. MainOne also has a partnership with Equinix-Telecity that grants the company direct access to other global providers such as Oracle and IBM, thereby giving customers access to the services they need.
With MainOne Cloud Connect, enterprises can collaborate seamlessly while adopting remote work (Work from Home) policies. Collaborating across phones, emails and applications has been made easier through cloud-hosted team collaboration applications with MainOne Cloud Connect providing the additional security and compliance benefits for industries in the Financial, Oil and Gas and Manufacturing sectors.
MainOne Cloud Connect solution is backed by MainOne’s private submarine cable and supports direct connections to Cloud services at speeds from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps. According to the Head, Technical Solutions & Managed Services, Oluwasayo Oshadami, “Our Cloud Connect service enables businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire adapt to the rapid growth of cloud solutions with always-on, secure access to their cloud enabled applications. Our investments in a world-class connectivity infrastructure coupled with technology from our global partners is strategically positioned to support the digital transformation efforts of our customers”.
As stated by one of the company’s customers “MainOne Cloud Connect service allowed our team to have direct access to Microsoft Azure services, which means we don’t have to leverage on the shared internet of the bank which was resulting in high bandwidth usage, unpredictable latency and impact on other services. The latency of the service is guaranteed, and the service performance is predictable”.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
MainOne, the leading provider of connectivity solutions for businesses in West Africa is responding to the increase in the adoption of Cloud technology by connecting businesses across the region directly to public cloud service providers. The MainOne Cloud Connect service ensures direct secure and reliable network connectivity between enterprise data centers or office locations and public cloud providers such as Microsoft, and Amazon Web Services.
Ololade Shonubi DGM Marketing and Customer Experience at MainOne
MainOne also has a partnership with Equinix-Telecity that grants the company direct access to other global providers such as Oracle and IBM thereby giving customers access to the services they need.
With MainOne Cloud Connect, businesses have a cost-effective solution to scale up as cloud resource utilization increases while benefiting from an improved network experience than Internet-based connections. This connectivity solution is backed by MainOne’s private submarine cable and supports direct connections to Cloud services at speeds from 10 Mbps to 100 Gbps.
“Our Cloud Connect service enables businesses in Nigeria, Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire adapt to the rapid growth of cloud solutions equipped with always-on, secure access to their cloud-enabled applications.
Businesses across the region are strategically positioned to use our world-class connectivity platform coupled with technology from our global partners to support their digital transformation efforts” stated Ololade Shonubi DGM Marketing and Customer Experience.
As stated by one of the company’s customers “MainOne Cloud Connect service allowed our team have direct access to Microsoft Azure services, which means we don’t have to leverage on the shared internet of the bank which was resulting in high bandwidth usage, unpredictable latency and impact on other services. The latency of the service is guaranteed, and the service performance is predictable”.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry
One of Africa’s major data communications company, Nigeria based MainOne has commenced the expansion of its data center brand to the West African sub-region with the establishment a sister company of its subsidiary MDXi in Ghana. This development according to company sources is in line with the company’s ongoing West African expansion plans. The MDXi, the largest commercial data center services provider in West Africa, is extending its imprint into Ghana with the new facility to expand MainOne’s already robust infrastructure and service profile in Ghana.
MainOne Regional Executive, Mr. Kazeem Oladepo
MainOne sources say that the new data center facility to be based in Appolonia City, a mixed use development 20 kilometers from the center of Accra, will be ready for service in the fourth quarter of 2020 to cater to the ever-increasing demand for collocation and interconnection services for multinationals and local businesses seeking shared services facilities for their ICT resources in world class facilities. The sources say that the facility will be designed to international standards consistent with the MainOne brand, assuring collocated customers of the highest quality of service to meet their business requirements.
The facility will also offer customers the opportunity to host infrastructure in a facility guaranteed to provide high levels of availability and rich connectivity with a global network of customers, partners and suppliers thus ensuring 24X7 online deliveries of services for the businesses. MDXi’s world-class infrastructure will feature private data center suites, enterprise-grade 24×7 multi-level security and video surveillance, precision cooling, safety and fire suppression systems with multiple redundancies built into the power, cooling and security infrastructure.
In line with its parent company’s leadership in the telecoms sector, the facility will offer open access connectivity options to all the leading telecom networks in Ghana and direct access to MainOne and other submarine cable systems. The facility will offer access to various Internet Exchanges including the GIX in Ghana, the IXPN in Nigeria, the LINX in the UK, the DECIX in Frankfurt/Lisbon, and the CIVIX in Cote d’Ivoire Internet Exchange as well as the West Africa Internet Exchange (WAF-IX).
Speaking on this expansion process, the Regional Executive of MainOne Mr. Kazeem Oladepo said that as an organization committed to providing broadband infrastructure solutions across West Africa , MainOne is excited to make this investment to support the digitization journey of its customers with the new data center facility. He added that over the past few years, MainOne has grown its business in Ghana to serve major enterprises and “we are delighted to bring our world-class data center expertise to deepen the Ghanaian market. The Ghanaian economy continues to build industrial capacity to show strong economic growth and we need to deploy our best solutions to service the market”.
MDXi’s Tier III data centre in Lekki, Lagos-Nigeria, is the largest purpose-built commercial data center in West Africa, designed with a strong focus on high availability, security, and open access connectivity. It is certified to ISO9001, ISO27001, PCI-DSS and Uptime’s Tier III Certification of Constructed Facility standards. With 600 rack capacity, the data center provides services to a large customer base made up of local and multinational businesses. The facility has experienced tremendous growth in the Financial and Oil & Gas sectors where it has helped advance the digitization efforts of customers and the lessons learned are viewed of particular relevance to these growing sectors in Ghana.
Speaking on the planned expansion, Gbenga Adegbiji, Director, MDXi stated, “Based on our strong track record as the preferred commercial data center in West Africa, it is with great pleasure that we announce the expansion of our MDXi footprint in Ghana. This expansion will see MDXi contributing to the growth of the local economy by providing jobs, enhancing capacity development and economic growth. Most importantly, it ensures that we are fully equipped and positioned to serve more businesses in Ghana as the region continues to grow its digital economy.”
Regarding the impact the expansion will have on the city, Bright Owosu-Amofah, CEO Appolonia City, stated that, “The city’s innovative vision to drive industrialization and social infrastructure has been made possible through partnerships like MainOne and its subsidiary company MDXi, whose data centre infrastructure will play a major role towards the economic growth and viability of Appolonia City, and also be the backbone for a connected ICT ecosystem. We look forward to witnessing the future of Appolonia City businesses being locally hosted and digitally empowered.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.
