April 26, 2005 Hamilton, Bermuda -- In Saudi Arabia, Teleglobe, a provider of international voice, data, Internet, and mobile services, and Saudi Telecom Company (STC) have established the Middle East IP Exchange (ME-IEX) to serve Middle Eastern and Arabian Gulf ISPs and carriers. The ME-IEX supports peering arrangements among ISPs, and currently carries traffic for six customers from Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Yemen.

According to a press release, the ME-IEX is the region's first IP exchange node to support diversified international connectivity, combining STC's established regional and international infrastructure with the global reach of Teleglobe's Tier 1 IP network, and backed by support services from both companies.

The exchange node supports direct regional traffic interchange among local customers, and provides international traffic exchange using Teleglobe's network, which enables direct connections to American and European carriers and ISPs, as well as direct and transit connections to ISPs and carriers across Asia, Australia, Africa, and Latin America.

"STC - with its self-healing, national backhaul network and border-crossing terrestrial fiber-optic links that extend to all the neighboring countries - represents the most resilient, reliable, and cost-effective connectivity in the region for both carriers and ISPs," contends Sa'ad Demyati, vice president for STC's international telecom sector.