DE-CIX, a growing Internet Exchange operator, plans to establish a joint plan to develop the joint venture company PT DE-CIX Indonesia, together with PT IDMarco Digital Solusi, a subsidiary of the Salim Group, in a move to expand its interconnection footprint to Indonesia.
One of the company’s first steps is to establish a distributed IX across multiple data canters in Jakarta using the award-winning DE-CIX Apollon platform. DE-CIX Jakarta will be connected to the existing DE-CIX ecosystem in Southeast Asia, now covering six metro markets: Jakarta, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru, Brunei, and Manila.
Customers at any of the exchanges can access networks at any of the other IXs in the region, offering a seamless connection, interconnection services for wholesale and enterprise requirements, and a cost-effective way to peer across Southeast Asia.
The IX will be directly connected to DE-CIX Singapore, thus incorporating DE-CIX Jakarta into its Southeast Asian interconnection ecosystem and providing interconnection for network providers, cloud service providers, and enterprises backed by SLAs. DE-CIX Jakarta will combine local and regional interconnection, including Cloud Exchange capabilities. It said this would lead to a better user experience for Indonesian end-users, along with a wide array of cloud interconnection services tailored for enterprises.
The platform includes advanced security features such as DE-CIX’s blackholing services and in-depth statistical data that allow participants to better understand their traffic patterns, as well as a self-service portal and API for the easy management and automation of interconnection services.
DE-CIX’s move comes when Indonesia is seeing economic and network growth. With a population of close to 280 million, almost 70% of whom are working-age, Indonesia is the largest economy in Southeast Asia by GDP and is ranked 17th in the world. As of the middle of May, the country has registered 2,492 start-ups, nine of which are unicorns, making it the 6th largest start-up hub in the world.
Also, Internet penetration in the archipelago grew by more than 50% between 2017 and 2022 and now stands at nearly 220 million, or 78% of the population. Indonesia is home to almost 1,000 independent networks; this number has nearly doubled in the last five years. More than 40 international and national sub-sea cables land on the archipelago's shores, with another six planned for the next two years. ICT is one of the sectors with the fastest-growing revenues in the country, with over 10% growth in the past year. Equally, McKinsey analysts forecast that Indonesia will soon lead Asia-Pacific in overall IT spending, up to US $6 billion by 2024.
Ivo Ivanov, CEO of DE-CIX, said establishing an interconnection point in Indonesia allows it to deepen its presence in Southeast Asia further. “Indonesia, with the largest population and the fastest-growing economy in Southeast Asia, is the next logical step for DE-CIX in the region,” he said. “Our integrated solution supports the ongoing transformation of content and traffic localization in the ASEAN region.”
He added that while Singapore and Hong Kong are key growth areas, Jakarta also shows potential. “Mega Hubs like Singapore and Hong Kong will continue to be important. However, we expect to see the main growth in markets such as Jakarta,” he said. “With the arrival of DE-CIX Apollon in Jakarta, all networks in Indonesia are invited to take advantage of DE-CIX’s best-in-class platform.”
Thomas Dragono, Director of IDMarco Digital, agreed and added that “with this Internet Exchange, we can accelerate the realization of better Internet quality for Indonesia.”
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Sean Buckley
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