LINX Nairobi has announced today that it is now offering the Microsoft Azure Peering Service from its interconnection hub in Kenya.

Established in 1994, LINX (London Internet Exchange) is a mutually governed Internet exchange point (IXP) providing peering services

It is an official partner of Microsoft and currently offers this solution from its facilities in London and Manchester, UK, as well as LINX NoVA, Northern Virginia, USA.

MAPS enables networks to improve connectivity with a direct connection to Microsoft, reducing latency for end user services such as Microsoft365, Dynamics365 and Teams.

According to Microsoft, only a handful of companies offer MAPS in Africa. They are Liquid Telecom, MainOne, NAP Africa, Vodacom and NTT Data (listed by Microsoft as Dimension Data)

LINX product development manager, Mike Hellers says: “The MAPS solution is a great fit for the ecosystem in Kenya. No minimum traffic levels, but the same great, low latency peering service, direct with Microsoft. We have welcomed a lot of interest from local ISPs for this service and plan on reaching out to fintech and enterprise networks in the region soon too.” 

LINX’s introduction of MAPS comes less than a year after the official launch of LINX Nairobi in November 2023.

Hellers added: “We hadn’t anticipated rolling out additional services at LINX Nairobi so soon, but it’s encouraging how keen the local networks are for our services, they asked, and we listened.”