The London Internet Exchange (LINX) and Internet Exchange incubator Asteroid announced that they have entered into a co-operative agreement to enhance interconnectivity across Africa, beginning with Kenya.

The partnership, announced on Monday, will see Asteroid transition customer networks connected at its Mombasa and Nairobi exchange points to LINX-operated interconnection hubs in the same cities by the end of 2025.

“We are very proud of our achievements in Kenya over the last five years. Asteroid entering the market drastically changed the landscape for interconnectivity.’’Remco van Mook, Asteroid CEO, said.

‘’We are excited to have entered into this agreement with LINX and trust that they will continue our mission to support the growth of interconnection in East Africa. This agreement plays into each of our strengths and is the third interconnection market we have successfully incubated,” he added.

The transition will be fully supported, with both Asteroid and LINX technical teams working together to ensure a smooth migration for customer networks.

“We feel very privileged to carry on the baton so to speak. We will drive to continue the amazing work Asteroid has achieved in Kenya and look forward to working with their customers on the next step of their interconnection journey. LINX’s priority is to continue to support the growth of interconnection to Kenya to the benefit of the local community and the wider global ecosystem.” Jennifer Holmes, CEO of LINX, said.

Asteroid customers will be able to maintain and, if desired, scale their network further on a local level with access to potential new peers in locations in Kenya and also globally with LINX locations in the UK and US and soon, Ghana.

They will be supported by LINX’s 24/7 engineering team and also have access to additional interconnection services such as LINX Private VLAN and unique solutions such as the Microsoft Azure Peering Service (MAPS).

Asteroid and LINX say they will be working together to communicate each step of the transition to the networks involved ahead of Asteroids cessation of operations in Kenya at the end of 2025.