Philippine Internet Exchange launched 
By Geoffrey P. Ramos CW STAFF WRITER 
            
INTERNET service providers will now be able to move local Internet traffic without bouncing content out of the country with the launch this month of the Philippine Internet Exchange (PhIX).  

Set up by the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company (PLDT), PhIX is a network access point that interconnects local ISPs, allowing them to route local traffic among themselves.  

Before the local exchange, even inbound mail had to be bounced through an international gateway, off to some host server overseas, before being routed back here.  

At the PhIX launch, Enrique Perez, senior vice-president and chief operating officer of PLDT, said the rapid growth of the Internet in the Philippines spurred the establishment of the country's first Internet exchange.  

"The introduction of our very own network access point shall localize the exchange of Internet traffic within the Philippines," he said. This, he added, would insulate locally exchanged information from international Internet congestion.  

 "In essence, this service is a measure that will sustain the growth for all ISPs, increase efficiency in routing and improve the general connectivity and reliability of local Internet users to access content and the timely delivery of  information," Perez said.  

Currently, five of the larger ISPs are connected to PhIX. These are Infocom Technologies (which is owned by PLDT), IPhil Communications, Mosaic Communications, Virtual Link, and WorldTel Philippines. The pilot operation for the exchange started last January and was completed by June.  

Each of the ISPs are connected to the PhIX on 64Kbps leased lines from PLDT.  

Cesar Reyes, PLDT first vice-president and board chairman of Infocom, said all ISPs that want to connect to PhIX need to do so via a leased 64Kbps line, which costs about P5,000 to P8,000 a month, depending on the ISP's location.  

"This is something like a cooperative of ISPs," Reyes said, noting that member-ISPs will share in the cost of maintaining the exchange.  

Before an ISP can join the Internet exchange, it must meet the following requirements:  

• It must have its own primary gateway to the global Internet;
• It must provide its own router and associated cables for co-location to PLDT PhIX facilities;
• It must secure a leased line, preferably from PLDT, a service contract for the PhIX connectivity, and pay corresponding line and port charges;
• It must sign the multilateral peering agreement (MLPA) and provide PLDT the original copy of the agreement; and
• It must configure its own router once connected to PhIX.  

The MLPA is an agreement among ISPs that allows for the exchange of local customer traffic.  

Under the MLPA, PhIX is treated as a common carrier point. All traffic passing across PhIX among peers will not be filtered or tampered with, nor examined for content.  

BENEFITS  

 In his remarks during the launch, Reyes said ISPs that connect to PhIX will be able to lower their costs of operation because they will no longer have to allocate international bandwidth for local traffic.  

For his part, Dr. Willy Gan, chairman of Moscom, said smaller ISPs will stand to benefit more from connecting to PhIX, since it will allow them to conserve international bandwidth.  

Meanwhile, IPhil general manager Fernando Contreras Jr., told Computerworld PhIX would also improve performance for local-to-local exchanges. The exchange will also address security concerns, particularly among government agencies, since sensitive data can be kept within the local loop inside the country.  

Anthony Choy, president of Virtual Link, concurred, saying PhIX would save costs associated with bandwidth and save time for customers.  

 At the same time, local mail requirements will no longer depend on outside links, said Ricardo Gonzalez, an active member of the Internet community who first approached PLDT with the idea of setting up a local exchange.  

"If the outside connection [to the Internet] is down, you'll still have a line here in the Philippines, so you'll still have mail," Gonzalez said.  

Estimates vary widely over what proportion of the Internet traffic is local.  

Moscom's Gan said no more than 10% of all traffic falls within this category. Infocom's Reyes put the estimate at 10% to 15%  

On the other hand, Virtualink's Choy said the mix varies from season to season, with local traffic accounting for anywhere from 20% to 50%. Infocom's Cendrano, too, said local traffic can reach as much as 40% of the total. 

Choy predicted, too, that if local ISPs improve content, local traffic is bound to increase.  

IPhil's Contreras, for his part, said his company has been using 90% of its 64Kbps line to PhIX, indicating that local traffic is significant.  

STRATEGIC MOVE  

The ISPs agreed that PLDT scored points by being the first carrier to provide an Internet exchange.  

Gonzalez noted that other carriers such as Globe Telecom and Bayantel were also given a presentation, but PLDT was the first to respond.  

"Here we are afraid of PLDT, but let's face it: they're the dominant player," Gonzalez said. "If you want something to be done in this country, you go to the big players."  

 He added, however, that nothing prevents other carriers from putting up their own exchanges.  

Gonzalez said PLDT manages the hub, but the ISPs will determine policy.  

"PhIX allowed competing ISPs to cooperate," Gonzalez said. "In the Internet, if you don't cooperate, you die."  

Ideally, Gonzalez said, regional Internet exchanges such as PhIX should connect to each other, allowing regional content to be shared among Asian countries. "Our goal here, is to make the Philippines the hub for ASEAN," Gonzalez said. "We're working on connecting IX to IX. If we can connect the IX in Australia, then to the IX in Japan, Korea, and the rest of the ASEAN countries, we'll be removing the US-centric Internet [content]. Right now, the US is the center of the Internet because they're the dominant player."  

Gonzalez admitted, though, that the goal is difficult to achieve, particularly because it involves telecommunications, which is still regulated by governments. He also noted that other countries, too, would want to be the center of a regional hub.  

Gonzalez said the idea of putting up a local IX came from Miguel Paraz, technical services manager at IPhil, when he posted the suggestion in the PH-ISP mailing list in December 1995. Subsequently, Gonzalez took the idea to PLDT in April 1996.  

PLDT, through its New Ventures Development Division (NVDD), presented the IX proposal to all ISPs in October, and five of them signed up.  

Gonzales said these ISPs were able to connect to the exchange in less than three months.  

Reyes, for his part, said they are still inviting other ISPs to join the IX. "We want to make the Philippines the hub for Asia," he said. More information about the exchange is available at its Web site, http://www.phix.net.ph