The Pakistan Internet Exchange (PIE) will be hosted at the PTCL data centre in Karachi. The exchange is operated by DE-CIX under the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) model and is built on the company's infrastructure.
Dr Umar Saif, federal minister of IT and telecommunication said: "Pakistan is a massive digital market, with an internet user base larger than the population of Italy. Over the past few years, we have made significant strides in advancing fibre connectivity. We got two fibre loops from Kashgar to Rawalpindi, further extended to Karachi by PTCL.
“Additionally, multiple submarine cables making landfall in Karachi further enhance our connectivity. Now, PTCL Business Solution's carrier-neutral Internet Exchange, managed by a tier 1 IX operator, DE-CIX, is up and running and generates exciting prospects for localised content hosting from leading platforms like YouTube, Netflix and TikTok.
“The content cached and routed from Pakistan can seamlessly reach other markets, positioning us as the regional digital connectivity hub. It can generate annual revenues, ranging from $200-400 million through transit traffic to substantially add to our economy."
The interconnection platform provides both local peering and remote access to DE-CIX Frankfurt in Germany, which is one of the world's biggest IXs. The PIE will function as a regional connectivity hub, enabling low-latency interconnection for local networks and localisation of global content, while boosting stability, scalability, and security.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with DE-CIX to bring this state-of-the-art interconnection facility to Pakistan,” said Zarrar Hasham Khan, Group chief business solutions officer at PTCL and Ufone 4G.
“As the largest integrated ICT company in Pakistan, we are committed to advancing the country’s digital infrastructure to support widespread digitalisation, and this collaboration is a significant step forward in achieving that goal.
“Our nationwide network and DE-CIX’s interconnection infrastructure will serve as a foundation to enhance the internet experience of our customers while facilitating the local hosting of content by international platforms. We believe this partnership will not only drive digital enablement across the country but also help accelerate the growth of Pakistan’s digital economy.”
