The London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Internet
Exchange incubator Asteroid have announced that they have entered into a
co-operative agreement to further benefit the future of interconnectivity in
Africa.
From now until the end of the year, Asteroid and LINX will be working
together to transition customer networks connected at Asteroid Mombasa and
Nairobi, welcoming them to LINX Mombasa and Nairobi interconnection hubs.
Remco van Mook, Asteroid CEO, commented: “We are
very proud of our achievements in Kenya over the last five years. Asteroid
entering the market drastically changed the landscape for interconnectivity.
We are excited to have
entered into this agreement with LINX and trust that they will continue our
mission to support the growth of interconnection in East Africa. This agreement
plays into each of our strengths and is the third interconnection market we
have successfully incubated.”
The transition to LINX will be a fully supported
journey to ensure the Asteroid customer networks arrive at their new Mombasa
and/or Nairobi interconnection points smoothly. During the transition period,
the customers will be supported by both Asteroid and LINX technical
stakeholders.
Jennifer Holmes, CEO of LINX, commented: “We feel very
privileged to carry on the baton so to speak. We will drive to continue the
amazing work Asteroid has achieved in Kenya and look forward to working with
their customers on the next step of their interconnection journey. LINX’s
priority is to continue to support the growth of interconnection to Kenya to
the benefit of the local community and the wider global ecosystem.”
Asteroid customers will be able to maintain and, if
desired, scale their network further on a local level with access to potential
new peers in locations in Kenya and also globally with LINX locations in the UK
and US and soon, Ghana.
They will be supported by LINX’s 24/7 engineering team
and also have access to additional interconnection services such as LINX
Private VLAN and unique solutions such as the Microsoft Azure Peering Service
(MAPS).
Asteroid and LINX will be working together to
communicate each step of the transition to the networks involved ahead of Asteroids
cease of operations in Kenya at the end of 2025.
LINX CEO Jennifer Holmes and Asteroid CEO Remco van
Mook will be available for questions at ITW Africa in Nairobi on 9-10 September
2025.
