St.Kitts-Nevis closer to establishing internet exchange point

Bevil Wooding of PCH

Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 02, 2012 : St. Kitts and Nevis is one step closer in establishing an Internet Exchange Point (IXP) as Government continues to work with local and international partners to enhance self reliance in the information technology sector.

On a recent visit to St. Kitts, Bevil Wooding of the United States-based company Packet Clearing House (PCH) presented server computer equipment that will allow local users from different internet service providers to exchange information directly instead of having the traffic routed to the United States and then back to the Federation.

“This is a very, very important part of developing the kinds of industry and the kinds of businesses that rely on the internet,” Mr. Wooding said. “Having local traffic exchange means businesses and government services can now be delivered without having it … leave the island. This means there are a lot of possibilities now for things like video conferencing, voice over IP or gaming that rely on fast traffic.”

“It also has implications for the delivery of government services like … uploading large forms and having users download it at much faster speeds than they would if that traffic had to leave the country,” he added.

Mr. Wooding highlighted that the IXP will promote a more resilient and robust domestic internet and local government can then move “full speed with its plans to develop more and more services that deliver real value to citizens.”

Also included in the donation from PCH was an Internet Domain Name System Root Server which converts the names of websites into numbers that are then used by a computer to correctly identify the location of the sites on the internet. The equipment was installed at the National Information and Communication Technology Centre at the C. A. Paul Southwell Industrial Park.

Mr. Wooding stressed that governments and businesses across the Caribbean Region are expanding their online presence, which includes offering more services online. He added that greater reliance on the internet requires increased control over the basic infrastructure that facilitates access to the internet.