Riyadh: The Saudi Arabian Internet Exchange "SAIX" at King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology "KACST" has achieved a significant milestone by surpassing 1 Tbps, highlighting its operational efficiency and performance. This achievement places it at the forefront of the region's Internet exchange points (IXPs) and makes it the only one among the 66 IXPs globally that are members of the Terabit Club.
According to Saudi Press Agency, this accomplishment demonstrates the Kingdom's capacity to lead the digital era in alignment with the objectives of Vision 2030. Its skilled national workforce and advanced digital infrastructure have attracted multinational corporations, with companies like Google, Huawei, and Alibaba establishing a presence at SAIX.
SAIX plays a key role in improving connectivity quality between local companies, boosting the efficiency and reliability of digital services in the Kingdom, and enhancing cybersecurity by keeping local Internet traffic within the Kingdom. This has also increased the visibility of the Kingdom's Internet addresses by more than 98%, contributing to a rise in traffic volume and the number of connected networks. The network capacity, which initially started at 30 Gbps, has now exceeded 1 Tbps.
SAIX is an initiative managed by KACST's Internet Services Unit and overseen by the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology. It aims to enhance the efficiency of local data exchange and improve communication speeds for users in the Kingdom. Furthermore, SAIX helps connect Internet service providers in the Kingdom, supports the digital economy, and fosters the growth of digital businesses such as e-commerce, cloud computing, and content streaming services. It also provides an advanced infrastructure for both local and international companies and sets the stage for neighboring countries to benefit from the Kingdom's technological capabilities.