Wazzup Pilipinas!
Users will now be able to access government websites faster with the signing of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the ICT Office of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and telecommunications provider PLDT on Monday, September 7.
The MOA shall signal the tie up between the parties wherein PLDT, shall provide the DOST through the Advanced Science and Technology Institute, (ASTI) operator of PHOpenIX, the country’s first and only neutral Internet Exchange, fiber optic connectivity from PLDT’s Pasig City Vitro Data Center to ASTI; becoming PHOpenIX third Physical connection point, together with Globe’s MK1 in Makati and ASTI in Diliman.
Through the new link between PLDT and PHOpenIX, private networks hosted with PLDT can opt to connect and peer directly to PHOpenIX, allowing for faster access to content hosted on the Internet Exchange’s peered networks.
At the MOA signing, the ICT Office of the DOST also announced the designation of PHOpenIX as the official Government Internet Protocol Exchange (G/IPX) as specified in Administrative Order (AO) No. 39.
Internet exchanges (IX) allow for Internet data to be transmitted between users within a locality to take shorter route through an IX rather than taking a longer route outside the country. Most of the country’s providers are not peered through an IX, which is one of the reasons Internet access in the country is relatively slow compared to its neighboring countries where providers are peered through a neutral IX.