Afghanistan's Ministry of Telecommunications and Information Technology said the National Internet Exchange of Afghanistan (NIXA), built at a cost of close to AFN10mn (about $145,000), is ready to begin operations, Pajhwok reported on September 17.

The exchange is intended to keep domestic internet traffic inside the country rather than routing it through international paths, a shift that would cut Afghanistan's dependence on foreign transit providers and give the Taliban-led administration tighter control over national data flows. Afghanistan, which has no coastline and relies on cross-border fibre links through neighbouring states, has long carried some of the highest connectivity costs in the region.

The ministry said the project was designed and carried out by its General Directorate of Information Technology Infrastructure, and that it has put in place the core infrastructure needed for domestic traffic exchange. That should allow better traffic management, stronger information security and improvements in the quality and speed of communications, according to the statement.

Traffic will be exchanged through an internal gateway, the ministry said, delivering greater efficiency and security for telecommunications networks, internet service providers and other users.

Equipment, systems and technical services worth nearly AFN10mn were procured for the project. Firewalls, servers, a backup system, virtualisation systems, internet traffic analysis tools and log-management systems are among the main components.

The ministry said the new infrastructure also creates capacity for local hosting of websites, email and shared hosting, along with other digital services. That capacity could serve government institutions, educational organisations and private companies, according to the statement.

The ministry described the launch as a step towards stronger internet infrastructure, better management of domestic traffic, wider digital services and greater digital sovereignty in Afghanistan.