The Cape Town Internet Exchange (Cinx), an Internet exchange point operated by INX-ZA, has been expanded to a third location.

INX-ZA said in a statement on Monday that Cinx now has a peering facility in Diep River. The company operates Cinx and similar points in Johannesburg (Jinx) and Durban (Cinx).

The announcement was made at the iWeek 2018 conference by Malcolm Siegel, a board member of the Internet Service Providers’ Association and an INX-ZA committee member. Cinx now encompasses three sites hosted by Liquid Telecom in Diep Rivier, Teraco in Rondebosch and Internet Solutions in Parklands.

The Internet exchange points help service providers route traffic locally, helping to contain costs, while users benefit from reduced latency, or network round-trip times.

The new INX facility is positioned close to the many ISPs and others who interconnect at Cinx.

Internet exchange points allow ISPs to interconnect their networks so that domestic Internet users benefit from faster connections and more efficient access to online services. Network operators benefit from lower costs, resulting in more affordable bandwidth which is crucial for the development of the Internet, INX-ZA said in the statement.

Internet exchanges in South Africa have historically been limited to a single location requiring network operators using the exchange to invest in infrastructure connecting to that location. “The extensions undertaken by INX-ZA makes it easy for Internet companies which already have infrastructure at existing INX locations to connect seamlessly to networks at new locations.”