Industry 4.0 + IIoT: Products + services
Extending IXP access to underserved areas WRITE @ THE BACK
and performance, regardless of geographic location. “This launch is about fundamentally rebalancing access to South Africa’s digital infrastructure,” said Prenesh Padayechee, Group Chief Technology & Operations Officer, Digital Infrastructure at Seacom. “Seacom PeeringReach gives networks in local municipalities a more cost-effective way to connect into the national peering ecosystem, helping them improve performance and, at the same time, keep connectivity costs under control.” Improving efficiency, simplifying network operations A key benefit of Seacom PeeringReach is its dedicated Layer 2 design, which eliminates the inefficiencies associated with indirect, multi-hop routing paths. By enabling more direct access to Internet Exchanges, the service improves traffic efficiency, predictability and overall network performance. It enables growth through simple provisioning rather than construction, significantly reducing cost and time to market. “ PeeringReach is about connectivity via an affordable enablement platform,” said Padayechee. “We are helping regional networks scale faster, operate more efficiently, and participate more affordably in the digital economy. By levelling the playing field for regional networks, Seacom PeeringReach improves national traffic efficiency, resilience and digital inclusion,” he said. The service supports bandwidth options from 1 Gbps to 10 Gbps without requiring major infrastructure investment. The introduction of Seacom PeeringReach reinforces the company’s role as a national interconnection enabler, extending exchange access to areas that historically have been underserved.
Seacom has launched PeeringReach , a cost-effective Layer 2 connectivity solution designed to extend South Africa’s Internet Exchange (IXP) fabric into local municipalities and regional hubs, addressing the high costs and complexity traditionally associated with accessing national exchange connectivity. Delivered over Seacom’s national long-distance fibre backbone, Seacom PeeringReach provides reliable, SLA-backed access to South Africa’s leading Internet Exchanges, including JINX, CINX, DINX and NAPAfrica. The service offers a simpler, more affordable alternative to indirect routing via upstream providers or large-scale infrastructure investments, helping customers
Prenesh Padayechee, Group Chief Technology & Operations Officer, Digital Infrastructure at Seacom.
connect directly to the IXP ecosystem.
Broader exchange access at a lower cost Historically, gaining access to South Africa’s peering ecosystem often required indirect connectivity paths or significant investment in national infrastructure, creating cost and operational barriers for networks operating in smaller towns and municipalities. Seacom PeeringReach removes these barriers by extending exchange access into local and regional areas through a single, integrated Layer 2 service. By making exchange connectivity more accessible and affordable, the solution enables ISPs, regional carriers, enterprises and content providers to improve network efficiency Cloud complexity is suffocating growth Helen Kruger, Managing Director of IT solutions and ser- vices provider Troye, says South African businesses are reaching a breaking point as AI adoption, cloud native development and distributed workloads are accelerating faster than traditional infrastructure can cope. Gartner last year [1] outlined key trends expected to shape the future of cloud computing indicating that it would consolidate its
For more information visit: seacom.com
businesses can achieve. Through Private Cloud, Hybrid Multi Cloud, and strategic consultation, Troye helps organisations move beyond simply hosting data towards platforms that actively ena- ble transformation. Private Cloud provides a secure and controlled foundation for critical workloads, delivering predictable performance and gov- ernance without sacrificing agility. Hybrid Multi Cloud extends that foundation, allowing workloads to move seamlessly across environments to meet performance, cost, and compliance needs. Some industry reports [2] show 87% of organisations now op- erate multi-cloud environments, and 72% embrace hybrid cloud strategies that blend private and public clouds. Through its stra- tegic consultation services, Troye ensures these environments are aligned with business outcomes, so technology decisions support long term growth rather than short term fixes. Kruger emphasises that modern applications demand flexibili- ty and consistency. Enterprises are expected to support traditional virtual machines as well as cloud native containerised workloads. Nutanix addresses this challenge with a unified platform that runs applications consistently across private and public clouds. Independent evaluations [3] highlight Nutanix as a leader in multi-cloud container platform capabilities, noting unified man- agement, hybrid deployment options, and governance – critical for modern distributed workloads.
role as the primary driver of AI enablement, drive multi cloud expansion and digital sover- eignty strategies. Yet, Kruger says, many or- ganisations remain weighed down by fragmented tools and operational silos that inflate costs and stall innovation. For businesses looking ahead, the issue is no longer whether to move to the cloud, but wheth- er their current environment is agile enough to compete. Troye’s cloud solutions are designed to unlock new pos- sibilities by simplifying infra- structure and expanding what
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Troye Managing Director, Helen Kruger.
6 Electricity + Control MAY 2026
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