PhIX stands for the Philippine Internet eXchange. It is an interconnection or a network access point established by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT) that allows local Internet Service Providers (ISPs), with a primary connection to the global Internet, to access and exchange local Internet transactions, such as e-mail.

2) What brought about the creation of the PhIX? 

The creation of the PhIX was brought about by the experience of other countries, particularly in the US, where the necessity to establish a common network infrastructure for an IX was triggered by the explosive growth of the Internet from both commercial and non-commercial fronts.

Another operational issue that triggered the inception of the PhIX is the occasional downtime of international leased line circuits. The downtime disconnects the local ISPs to the Global Internet resulting to disruption of operation and delay in the delivery of locally terminated Internet traffic.

3) How would you describe the reception of ISPs to the idea of a common Internet hub for the country?

ISPs have positively responded to the idea of a common Internet hub for the country. This is manifested by the fact that the 5 pioneer ISPs connected to the PhIX, namely: Infocom, IPhil, Moscom, Virtualink, and WorldTel, are major ISPs in the country with presence in various localities.

4) Describe how the Internet Exchange system works?

The PhIX is basically composed of an Ethernet hub where co-located routers of participating ISPs are connected to.

Each participating ISP will configure their own router in such a way that routes of other participating ISPs are included in their own routing table. This means that local data or traffic information coming from a certain participating ISP intended for another participating ISP will go through their router and pass through the ethernet hub rather than through their gateway to the Global Internet.

5) What were the terms discussed and agreed upon with the participating ISPs by hooking up with PhIX?

Before an ISP can be part of the PhIX, it must have its own primary gateway to the Global Internet, it must first sign a Multi-Lateral Peering Agreement, or MLPA, an Agreement among connected ISPs that allows peering for exchange of local customer traffic, it must secure a leased line and must provide its own router and associated cables.

Under the MLPA, PLDT acts as the custodian of the MLPA signed by the ISPs; static routing will be used initially; transit and default of packets will not be allowed; no monetary settlements between and among ISPs are required; and PhIX shall be treated as a common carrier point. All traffic passing across PhIX between among the peers shall not be filtered with, nor shall it be examined for content.

6) How does the PhIX benefit participating ISPs and their subscribers compared to the time before its inception?

In the past, before PhIX was introduced, an e-mail sent by a local Internet user to another Internet user hookup to a different ISPs they located in the same building – would have to pass through host servers of the ISPs located in other countries. This scenario is an inefficient use of ISPs’ bandwidth.

The PhIX offers independence from international Internet conditions, as it centralizes local traffic within the country eliminating the need to route locally exchanged information via other host servers abroad. Thus, routing will improve considerably as locally exchanged information are bound to be faster and reliable. This makes the ISPs overseas connections for internationally bound traffic freer, faster, and reliable.

The benefits derived from PhIX are not necessarily limited to the customers of the 5 pioneer ISPs; these are extended to the markets of their resellers and ISP partners offering Internet services; present in various localities of the country.

7) Would the improved efficiency of the service affect the cost of providing Internet service? Would it entail higher IS (Internet Service) rates?

Yes, with respect to cost savings entailed in connecting to the Global Internet. ISPs, especially the smaller ones, who connect to the PhIX would not need to increase their international bandwidth or lease additional circuit capacity at once if majority of the Internet traffic being transacted by their customers are locally exchanged information.

As regards the IS rates, this is an issue that the connected ISPs have to decide upon.

8) How does the Philippines compare itself now with other Internet facilitated countries with the creation of the PhIX?

With the PhIX, the Philippines is now considered as a pro-active country with a vision to the eventual explosive growth of the Internet. Because the introduction of the PhIX is timely, relevant, and valuable.

Why timely? The total number of ISPs nationwide now stands at 129 as of August 1997. Our Internet industry has grown tremendously over the past year, making the Philippines one of the fastest growing Internet community in the South East Asian region, if not the world.

Why relevant? Without a network infrastructure by now, such as the PhIX, the explosive growth would create problems in the exchange of information as more and more ISPs from the Philippines and from other countries worldwide will compete for access to the Global Internet.

Why valuable? Timely delivery of locally exchanged e-mail and information are important. Ones e-mail that needs to be received now should not wait for several minutes or hours or days to be handed over to the recipient. By then, it might be too late.

9) What are the steps undertaken by the PhIX to entice other ISPs to connect with it?

The target customers of the PhIX are limited to those ISPs with a primary connection to the Global Internet. These are about 25 ISPs out of the total 129 ISPs nationwide as of August 1997. Activities undertaken by PLDT to entice the ISPs are as follows:

Presentation of PhIX’s concept to fifteen (15) ISPs on 29 October 1996. Of the 15 who attended the presentation, 5 major ISPs signified their intention to join the PhIX.

Formal launch of the PhIX last 03 July 1997. PLDT invited all the other ISPs (with & without gateways) to witness the unveiling of the new era in Philippine Internet.

Presently, 9 additional ISPs have signified their intention to join the PhIX.

As mentioned in item 9, the target customers of the PhIX are focused on the ISPs with gateways. However, the public are being informed through the 5 pioneer ISPs who are now using the PhIX as one of their marketing tools in their sales pitches.

To expand the awareness of the Internet users, PLDT is allowing the connected ISPs to use the PhIX logo pasted on their web pages. In this way, their existing and prospective customers may know that the Internet traffic of the subject ISP is locally routed through the PhIX that guarantees reliability and fast access to content and to locally exchanged information.