Ramses Exchange

The Ramses Exchange is a telecoms building in downtown Cairo that is a focal point of the Internet in Egypt. It is situated at 26 Ramses Street.[1] It was built in the 1980s.[2]

Reports related to the 2011 Internet shutdown in Egypt refer to the Ramses Exchange as the location where the shut down was effected by powering down parts of the exchange.[3] The Ramses Exchange, located near the center of Cairo is the main "wire center" for Telecom Egypt, carrying not only municipal telecommunications traffic, but also serving as the main point of entry for international submarine fiber-optic circuits, back-hauled from landing stations near Alexandria.

The Ramses Exchange is also the location of the Cairo Internet Exchange (CAIX).[4] This IX is provides connections between all the major in-country operators in Egypt[5] Additionally; it once housed the Cairo Regional Internet Exchange (CRIX),[6] which once claimed it was the largest Internet exchange in North Africa or the Middle East.[7]

On 7 July 2025, a fire in the building caused widespread disruption to the internet in Egypt.[8][9]

References

  1. ^ James Glanz and John Markoff (15 February 2011). "Egypt Leaders Found 'Off' Switch for Internet". New York Times. Quote: "The engineers say that a focal point of the attack was an imposing building at 26 Ramses Street in Cairo, just two and a half miles from the epicenter of the protests, Tahrir Square."
  2. ^ Ganot, Steven (8 July 2025). "Electrical Blaze at Ramses Exchange Cuts Cairo's Connectivity". The Media Line.
  3. ^ Ryan Singel (10 February 2011). "Report: Egypt Turned Off the Net With a Big Switch, Not Phone Calls". Wired.
  4. ^ Cairo Internet Exchange FAQ
  5. ^ CAIX Member List
  6. ^ Telecom, FLAG. "FLAG Telecom announces launch of CR-IX, the new internet exchange in Egypt -collaboration with National Telecom Company establishes new internet exchange for the region". www.prnewswire.co.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  7. ^ "Detail view of Cairo Regional Internet Exchange". Packet Clearing House.
  8. ^ "Blaze at Cairo telecoms building contained". Al Arabiya English.
  9. ^ Cloudflare Radar (7 July 2025). "A fire at the historic #Ramses telecom building in Cairo Caused an #Internet disruption seen across multiple network providers. The impact began around 14:40 UTC (17:40 local)".

See also

30°03′18″N 31°14′24″E / 30.05500°N 31.24000°E / 30.05500; 31.24000


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