Pan-African terrestrial Network Service Provider, Workonline Communications, has seen increased demand since turning up remote peering services to the London Access Point (LONAP) Internet exchange point, a little less than a year ago.

London is one of the most densely connected cities in the world and with a list of active members, including global networks, London-based businesses, and FTSE100 companies, LONAP members exchange traffic through a network of interconnected switches hosted in the LONAP data centres, across the city of London and Docklands.

Workonline Communications made access to this Internet exchange point available in sub-Saharan Africa late last year, enabling Workonline clients to extend their reach into new markets. LONAP compliments the services Workonline clients take from NAPAfrica, the largest Internet Exchange in Africa.

In terms of the benefits of the relationship, Edward Lawrence, co-founder and Director of Business Development at Workonline Communications, explained that the Workonline service provides a lower financial entry point for networks to reach internet exchange points from Africa, and that the company's resilient carrier-grade core network ensures the reliability of the connection to the LONAP peering fabric.

"This assists Internet service providers in sub-Saharan Africa to make the most of the benefits of peering at LONAP (such as reducing their IP transit costs, and increasing the quality of their services) without having to build and manage their own infrastructure in Europe."

Richard Irving, Managing Director of LONAP commented "The Workonline relationship has allowed LONAP to assist those networks located in Southern Africa to improve their connectivity and end user experience."

Remote peering allows networks to access global Internet Exchanges with very little or no capital outlay. This service, comments Michele McCann, business development manager of NAPAfrica, assists in enabling African markets to access global content.

Lawrence says that the partnership is helping African networks develop their global footprint further. "Workonline is focused on assisting the further development of the African network community through numerous initiatives. We feel that this collaboration furthers our previous efforts in this regard, such as offering free IPv6 transit to AfriNIC LIR members, and offering remote peering and partial IP transit services to LONAP."