KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has commended Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX) for its ongoing efforts in 'keeping internet traffic local' for Malaysia.
MDEC senior vice president and head of ecosystem development Gopi Ganesalingam said MyIX is well connected and recognised regionally by key internet players.
"Its role of improving efficiencies of routing and general internet connectivity is an important one for Malaysia to realise our digital economy aspirations," said Gopi in a statement.
MDEC recently introduced Malaysia Digital (MD), a national strategic initiative which aims to encourage and attract companies, talents, and investment while enabling businesses and the rakyat to play a leading part in the global digital economy.
"Strong and reliable internet connectivity is crucial for MD to establish Malaysia as a globally competitive digital nation powered by a progressive, thriving and innovation-led digital economy and ecosystem," added Gopi.
MyIX reported a peak of 1.6 Tbps broadband usage in recent months, nearly tripling the 588 Gbps posted in May 2020 during the first Movement Control Order.
"Within MyIX, we have almost all local internet service providers, mobile operators, hosting companies, regional operators, and global content providers with us, and we remain fully committed to our mission of 'bridging networks and empowering peering communities'," said MyIX chairman Chiew Kok Hin.
The exchange has grown from strength to strength with the recent addition of three new members – Serverfreak Technologies Sdn Bhd, Edge Centres (M) Sdn Bhd and Smart Axiata Co Ltd – bringing its total membership number to 132 today.
MyIX has been operating for the industry's benefit due to its ability to keep domestic internet traffic within Malaysia without having to take an indirect international route.
If there were no local internet exchange, traffic would have to be re-routed internationally before reaching its destination back in Malaysia. In industry terms, this is called a 'boomerang effect'.
"With MyIX, domestic traffic is routed locally and efficiently, resulting in savings on international bandwidth and IP transit costs," said Chiew.
"There is also improved throughput and latency performance, coupled with a better user experience."
MyIX was established in 2006 as an initiative under the Malaysian Communications Multimedia Commission (MCMC).