NTT Data claims Africa-first 400Gbit/s peering at Jinx

NTT Data said on Monday it has become the first network operator in Africa to activate 400Gbit/s peering at the Johannesburg Internet Exchange (Jinx). It described the move as a milestone for South Africa’s internet infrastructure.

The Japanese-headquartered technology services group, which operates the NTT Data Broadband Network in South Africa, said the upgrade improves capacity, resilience and latency for enterprises, cloud providers and consumers connecting through the exchange.

Jinx, established in 1996, is Africa’s oldest internet exchange point. It is operated by INX-ZA, the exchange division of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (Ispa), which also runs exchanges in Cape Town, Durban and Gqeberha. INX-ZA, in partnership with Nokia, previously became the first African internet exchange to offer 400 gigabit Ethernet ports to its peering community.

“Africa’s internet traffic is growing rapidly and the demand for scalable, resilient and low-latency connectivity continues to increase,” said JC Burger, director of infrastructure engineering and operations at NTT Data in South Africa, in a statement on Monday.

NTT Data said the upgrade will deliver improved performance during peak demand periods and greater reliability for South African businesses that depend on digital services.

Peering at internet exchanges allows networks to swap traffic directly rather than routing via international transit links, reducing latency and cost. Traffic volumes across African exchanges have climbed sharply over the past decade, driven by rising internet penetration, expanding submarine cable landings and growing adoption of cloud, streaming and AI services.

Read: INX-ZA to supercharge its South African internet exchanges

NTT Data, part of Japan’s NTT Group, reports annual revenue of more than US$30-billion and operates in more than 70 countries, offering connectivity, data centre, cloud and consulting services. The 400Gbit/s activation at Jinx comes as hyperscale data centre operators continue to expand their Johannesburg footprints to service cloud and AI workloads routed through the city.  — (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media