Zenlayer Deploys PoP in MainOne’s MDXi Lekki Data Center in Lagos, Nigeria

Zenlayer

Edge cloud services provider Zenlayer, headquartered in Los Angeles and Shanghai with offices in Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Beijing, Hangzhou, and Shenzhen, has deployed a network Point-of-Presence (PoP) in MDXi Lekki, MainOne’s Tier III data center in Lagos, Nigeria.

The MDXi Lekki data center would provide quick entry and scale-up opportunities for international companies looking to establish a presence in West Africa. It is the largest purpose-built commercial data center in West Africa. It was designed with a strong focus on high power availability, security, and open-access connectivity. It offers service level agreements (SLAs) of up to 99.99%, with investments in a private substation guaranteeing 95% grid power availability alongside backup generators in a N+1 configuration.

Zenlayer CEO and Founder Joe Zhu has been impressed by MainOne’s dedication to improving connectivity in West Africa. “Zenlayer is always looking for partners with deep local expertise,” he said. “MainOne not only has the expertise, they’ve been putting it into practice by deploying multiple PoPs, a 7,000 km submarine cable, and an IP/MPLS network. They’re a perfect partner for us as we introduce our clients to the growing West African market.”

The Tier III data center provides interconnection via fiber to over 30 telecom operators in the West African telecom ecosystem and plays host to the West Africa Internet Exchange (WAF-IX) and Nigerian Internet Exchange (IXPN).

Submarine Cable, Data Center

Zhu Joe
“MainOne is a perfect partner for us as we introduce our clients to the growing West African market,” said Zenlayer CEO and Founder, Joe Zhu.

“We are extremely proud of MDXi Lekki. The data center has been effective in reducing latency and network delay from 200ms to 100ms for businesses that had previously been accessing services through Europe and Singapore,” said Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne. “Within a few years of operation, MDXi has become the go-to destination for global content seeking a home close to the West African users and for local companies who have digitized their operations and are seeking to enable their customers do business online.”

MainOne’s submarine cable and data center infrastructure have been critical enablers of African broadband services. As the largest wholesale Internet service provider across West Africa, MainOne continues to expand its footprint, having recently connected Cote D’Ivoire and Senegal to its submarine cable system and launched its Abidjan Data Centre, with plans to launch the Appolonia Accra Data Centre in Ghana in 2020.

The MainOne system traverses the coast of West Africa with fully operational landing stations from Seixal in Portugal through Accra in Ghana to Lagos in Nigeria. New branches are located in Dakar, Senegal, and Grand Bassam, Cote D’Ivoire with additional branching units in Morocco and Tenerife to soon be connected.

“We’re excited to be working with Zenlayer as a partner,” said Gbenga Adegbiji, Director of the MDXi data center. “We want to expand our offerings beyond infrastructure, and Zenlayer’s SD-WAN and Cloud Networking services will be very appealing to our Cloud customers. Furthermore, international users will be able to instantly purchase compute and networking services from any of our data centers across the West African data region through Zenlayer’s Customer Portal. It is a win-win for both our companies, and we are very excited about this partnership.”