The Belize Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has announced that the country’s first internet exchange point (IXP), the BIXP, was successfully launched in Belize City on 27 April at the campus of the University of Belize. The PUC facilitated the process, with support from regional and international agencies, including Packet Clearing House (PCH) and the Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG).
Bevil Wooding, internet strategist at PCH, commented: ‘The new IXP is expected to help improve internet service[s] in Belize by eliminating dependence on international connectivity for local internet traffic exchange. The new facility, the twelfth IXP to be activated in the Caribbean, will lower the average per-bit delivery cost for local ISPs and significantly reduce the round-trip time for internet traffic between local ISP networks. As a result, users can expect a more reliable, more resilient local internet.’
ISPs participating in the BIXP project include, Alliance IP, Belize Telemedia, BroadBand Belize, Centaur Communications Corporation, NetKing, Network Solutions and SpeedNet.