Aqaba Digital Hub (ADH) is an iconic project spearheaded by Eyad Abu Khorma and a dedicated team of professionals focused on serving efficient digital infrastructure to the local, regional, and international markets in the heart of three continents, Aqaba.
The project utilized Aqaba’s exquisite landscape to provide sufficient services through a fully equipped business center, Tier-3 certified data center, Internet exchange point (IXP), state-of-the-art fiber-optic Internet network, teleport station for VSAT services, and world-class cloud platform, among many others—all to capture the growing demand from Internet service providers (ISPs), carriers, content providers (CDNs), and enterprises in Jordan and surrounding markets.
As part of its efforts to enlist itself as a driver of the digital transformation of businesses in the region, ADH in 2019 launched the first carrier-neutral data center in Aqaba, making it the only enterprise-grade facility available to businesses outside Jordan’s capital city of Amman. The data center earned Tier-3 design and facility certificates from Uptime Institute and offers a variety of hosting, co-location, disaster recovery (DR), infrastructure as a service (IaaS), and cloud services.
In 2020, the project’s telco arm, NaiTel launched the first fiber-optic network in Aqaba, providing retail and wholesale fiber services to local telecom operators, ISPs, and international companies with resilient and uninterrupted connections. NaiTel’s fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network has successfully covered Aqaba’s main areas with ongoing plans to cover the entire city.
Later in 2020, ADH launched AqabaIX—the first and only Internet exchange point in Jordan that offers interconnection and peering services. With open access and neutral policies, AqabaIX became the fastest-growing IXP in the region with 14 connected networks in its first year of operations including a number of main ISPs and CDNs such as Google, Packet Clearing House, and Akamai, and achieved over 120 Gbps of peak traffic.
In 2022, AqabaIX sealed a strategic partnership with DE-CIX, one of the world’s largest internet exchange networks. The current infrastructure of AqabaIX will be upgraded to the award-winning DE-CIX interconnection infrastructure, operated under the DE-CIX as a Service (DaaS) model.
Moreover, ADH has enabled on-demand global connectivity access in the Middle East via the Console Connect network-as-a-service (NaaS) digital platform. This would allow ADH customers to seamlessly extend their global reach to more than 50 countries and directly access the world’s major cloud platforms, including AWS, Google Cloud, IBM Cloud, Microsoft Azure, among others.
Today, the construction of the newly expanded project has started, including building the Hub’s new carrier-neutral 6MW data center that will host the forthcoming submarine cable system connecting Europe and Asia. The new data center will be ready for service by the end of 2023, connecting customers around the world with a full range of services including secure hosting, international colocation, DR, and IaaS at the highest international standards.
Touching on all sectors of the market—education, telcos, gaming, over-the-top (OTT) media services, SMEs, governments, and fintech— ADH is bringing diversified connectivity pillars to leap ahead and optimize their systems into one platform.
ADH will soon become the Middle East’s gateway for high-tech, secure services, and a go-to partner for digital transformation.
