The Internet Exchange Point (KOSIX), the first of its kind in Kosovo, started operating on 23rd June, 2011, and it operates as a functional unit within Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA). Its function is to provide the ISPs operating in Kosovo, an Internet exchange point for local traffic exchange.
Valuable and continuous contributions for the implementation of this project have given: United States Agency for International Development (USAID) offered throughout their program Kosovo Private Enterprise Program (KPEP), Norwegian government offered through Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Norwegian embassy respectively, Cisco Systems International BV, and University of Prishtina which have offered adequate space within the buildings of Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty.
The advantages offered by KOSIX are many, one of the most important being the advancement of security and privacy of communication on the Internet keeping the local traffic ‘local’ within national borders, without leaving the national boundaries as it has previously been prior to the function of KOSIX. This reduces the risk component when sending sensitive data across national borders and through many exchange points.
Moreover, KOSIX has the following advantages:
Costs – direct traffic exchange between the ISPs reduces the average cost per bit
Technical quality – direct traffic exchange creates a faster and direct route between two different local Internet users/locations, reducing the latency (delays) and other technical problems
Sustainability/Flexibility – KOSIX creates a routing agreement between ISPs to reduce congestion and create a backup route in cases of major network outages.
Market development – KOSIX may promote market development of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services and also development of new services (i.e. hosting, cached services, time sensitive applications) and services that require wide bandwidth and very low delays (i.e. real time services and multimedia).
Community – KOSIX is a good opportunity for the development of educational and research projects that help develop the local Internet community and promote the ICT market.