KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 13): The Johor Bahru Internet Exchange (JBIX) which was launched earlier this month is seen is acting as a “supplementary” to the Malaysia Internet Exchange (MyIX).

In a statement yesterday, MyIX chairman Chiew Kok Hin said both MyIX and JBIX facilitate peering between networks with the intention of improving latency and customer experience, thus to certain extent it is competing between each other in a friendly manner.

JBIX was launched by Extreme Broadband Sdn Bhd on Sept 3.

Chiew added that JBIX may act as a 'supplementary' MyIX, to bridge the gap of directly connecting non-ISP businesses to enhance the Internet surfing experience of Malaysians.

Meanwhile, JBIX chief peering officer Weng Yew Wong said that JBIX would primarily deal with ISPs and CSPs that MyIX does not cater to, and either it can be used as redundancy options, regardless which IX takes on the role as the primary IX point.

Weng said JBIX is the first 'open' internet exchange in Malaysia that welcomes peering between all type of organisations.

On a separate matter, Chiew is of the opinion that having more internet exchanges will not necessarily reduce the broadband cost in Malaysia.

"The question is how well the internet exchange is being run and how many peers are connected in the exchange.

“The more the (internet exchange) networks (with more peers), then the higher chances of it being able to reduce the broadband cost for the (consumer) Malaysian,” he said.

Both MyIX, and Extreme Broadband - the company that privately funds the JBIX infrastructure, are licensed by the Malaysian Communication and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).