Seven operators test Bolivia's first IXP

Seven Bolivian telecoms operators are carrying out tests on the country's first internet exchange point (IXP) installed in La Paz, local paper El Día reported telecoms services regulator ATT head Clifford Paravicini as saying.

The official said the operators which have already connected to the IXP are Entel, Viva, Tigo, Cotas, Conteco, Cotel and AXS Bolivia.

ATT also said that total investments for the deployment of three IXPs in Bolivia will reach US$600,000.

According to previous reports, state-run telco Entel would provide the necessary infrastructure for the IXP's nodes in the cities of La Paz, Cochabamba and Santa Cruz.

Paravicini previously said that the internet traffic will not be controlled by any operator. The official also said that the implementation of the IXP will not necessarily result in lower internet tariffs for end-users.

In September, ATT issued a resolution which approved the creation of a technical council to build the country's first IXP. ATT's resolution was issued after private internet operators failed to coordinate the implementation of the IXP in the period of time previously determined by the regulator.

The deployment of a local IXP would reduce Bolivia's internet traffic latencies and costs by allowing traffic to be routed locally instead of depending on expensive international connections in the US and elsewhere. According to ATT, the deployment of the IXP "will reduce telecommunications costs and will improve current local connections and enable the provision of advanced services which require low latency connections".

Bolivia reportedly suffers from the slowest internet speeds in the region, of approximately 0.72Mbps compared to a global average of 10.13Mbps, according to previous reports.

ATT also reported that the country ended December 2012 with over 136,000 fixed internet connections.