AFRICLOUD Joins GigaPIX, Portugal's National Internet Exchange

AFRICLOUD's Lisbon region is now connected at GigaPIX, Portugal's national internet exchange. It is our second exchange in Lisbon, alongside DE-CIX Lisbon, and our sixth overall. Across all six, we now exchange traffic directly with more than 850 networks, more than 500 of them African.

What GigaPIX is

GigaPIX, the GIGAbit Portuguese Internet eXchange, is operated by FCT through FCCN, the unit that runs Portugal's national research and education network. It is where networks serving Portugal meet to exchange traffic directly, rather than handing it to a third party to carry, and it has more than 60 member networks.

Its membership is what makes it interesting for us. Alongside Portuguese carriers, universities and public-sector networks, and the large global content and cloud platforms, GigaPIX counts operators from Angola, Cabo Verde and Côte d'Ivoire, and from Brazil, among its members. Lisbon has long been a meeting point for the Portuguese-speaking world, and its national exchange reflects that.

Why an exchange matters to you

When your server and your users' network both meet at the same exchange, traffic between them can pass directly from one to the other. Fewer networks sit in the middle, and there is more than one way to reach the people you serve. With two exchanges in the same city, our Lisbon region has more direct paths to the networks your users are on.

Our network today

We run our own network, AS209179, and connect at six internet exchanges across Africa and Europe:

• NAPAfrica, Johannesburg
• IXPN, Lagos
• DE-CIX Lisbon
• GigaPIX, Lisbon
• DE-CIX Madrid
• INTERIX, the Netherlands

Through them we exchange traffic directly with more than 850 networks in more than 80 countries. More than 500 of those networks are African, in more than 30 African countries. Among them are networks in Portugal, Brazil, Angola, Mozambique and Cabo Verde. The mix covers mobile and broadband operators, carriers and cable systems, global content and cloud platforms, and the major international backbones.

How we peer

Our peering policy is open: we do not require a signed peering agreement or a minimum number of shared locations. We peer over both IPv4 and IPv6 at every exchange. Our routes are registered under the AS-SET AS209179:AS-AFRICLOUD, and peering details are on PeeringDB.

We also look after the routes themselves. Every one of our prefixes has a published RPKI record, and on every session we drop route announcements that contradict their owner's RPKI record. That is how networks stop hijacked or mistyped routes from spreading. Our routes are registered in the RIPE and AFRINIC routing registries, we filter spoofed traffic at every edge (BCP38), and we implement all four MANRS actions for routing security.

What Lisbon gives you

Lisbon is our region for Europe, North Africa and the Americas. It is the closest of our regions to Brazil, reached over a direct subsea route, and it is our lead region for Cabo Verde and Guinea-Bissau. If you need a VPS in Portugal or cloud servers under EU law, Lisbon is where they run, in the same account and dashboard as your servers in Johannesburg and Lagos.

Frequently asked questions

What is an internet exchange point?

An internet exchange point (IXP) is a shared network where independent networks connect to exchange traffic with each other directly. It keeps traffic between two networks on a short, direct path instead of routing it through a third party.

What is GigaPIX?

GigaPIX is Portugal's national internet exchange, operated by FCT through FCCN. It connects Portuguese carriers, research and public-sector networks, global content platforms, and operators from Portuguese-speaking Africa and Brazil.

Which internet exchanges does AFRICLOUD connect at?

Six: NAPAfrica in Johannesburg, IXPN in Lagos, DE-CIX Lisbon and GigaPIX in Lisbon, DE-CIX Madrid, and INTERIX in the Netherlands.

Can my network peer with AFRICLOUD?

Our peering policy is open, over IPv4 and IPv6, with no signed peering agreement or minimum number of shared locations required. If your network is present at one of our exchanges, the details you need are on our PeeringDB record.

Where are AFRICLOUD's data centres?

In three regions: Lisbon (Portugal), Johannesburg (South Africa) and Lagos (Nigeria), each under its own jurisdiction for data residency.

Check it yourself

Our peering is public. You can see our exchanges and the networks we connect with on PeeringDB and bgp.tools, and more on our network page. To deploy in Lisbon, see our Lisbon region.