Gustavia, Saint Barthélemy. June 30, 2022—The Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU) technical team of experts is currently in the island of Saint Barthélemy to work together with the Collectivité of St. Barthélemy to execute the implementation of the Saint-Barth Internet Exchange (SBH-IX).
An internet exchange point, or IXP, is a piece of physical infrastructure that allows network operators to interconnect and exchange traffic locally without having to resort to expensive international routes. The CTU technical team visit comes under the auspices of the CaribIX project, which aims to set up IXPs in Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Guadeloupe. CaribIX promises to deliver better Internet speed, security and service quality across the three territories.
The SBH-IX will facilitate the interconnection of the networks of the ISPs within Saint Barthélemy’s territory. That increased local routing of network traffic is expected to translate into tangible improvements in network performance, thus improving connectivity and service for network users locally, regionally and internationally.
SBH-IX is established as a not-for-profit voluntary association of internet service providers in Saint-Barthélemy. The SBH-IX facilities will be managed by the Collectivité of Saint-Barthélemy, until the SBH-IX organization is officially established as a legal entity, at which time the Collectivité will transfer ownership and management to the organization.
“One of the advantages of having an IXP in a country is that it creates an opportunity to attract major web investors,” said Mr Gary Kalloo, Business Development Manager, CTU.
In May, an IXP implementation team from the CTU visited Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin and Guadeloupe to conduct strategic consultations in all three territories, in order to provide technical guidance on setting up and growing the new Internet exchange points.
In April, a delegation headed by Mr. Rodney Taylor, Secretary General of the CTU, visited H.E. Xavier Lédée, President of the Collectivité of Saint Barthelemy to discuss among other things the significance of the CARIBIX Project.
The CaribIX project received funding from the INTERREG Caraïbes programme, co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund of the European Union. It was formally launched in a virtual ceremony on March 21 and is expected to run until the end of October 2022.
