Patrick Christian

Dec 12, 2024

More Cables, More Redundancy, and Better Performance in Africa and the Middle East

Last month, I had the pleasure of speaking at Cairo ICT about colocation and connectivity trends.

I covered global bandwidth first, followed by a rundown on bandwidth in the Middle East and Africa.

Next up, data centers and interconnection hubs, with a discussion on where the hubs are, what makes a hub, and how hubs grow. Finally, I talked about end-user demand, which is very important with the growth of internet and demand.

You can catch a video of this presentation and download my slides below.

Oct 16, 2024

Mapping African Network Geography at AfPIF 2024 [Presentation Download]

Another year, another African Peering and Interconnection Forum (AfPIF) keynote presentation for Senior Research Manager Patrick Christian.

His 2024 African Network Geography Update explored global network trends, as well as African bandwidth trends, interconnection hub trends, and end-user demand. There was a special focus on Kinshasa, where this year’s AfPIF conference was held.

What are the best-connected hubs in Africa? Where are new and planned submarine cables landing? Is intra-African bandwidth gaining traction?

Oct 16, 2023

Africa Update: More Cables, Less Dependency on Europe

When Senior Research Manager Patrick Christian returned to the African Peering and Interconnection Forum this year, he did not come empty-handed.

Tucked into his suitcase—or, more accurately, safely stored in the cloud—was Patrick’s keynote presentation, a brand new African Network Geography Update.

Watch the recording below to explore global network trends, African bandwidth trends, localized content growth, and end-user demand.

You’ll also hear a bit about 2Africa and what we can expect when the cable system comes online.

Aug 31, 2022

A 2022 Update on African Network Geography

Last week, Senior Research Manager Patrick Christian shared an African network geography update with the African Peering and Interconnection Forum.

Patrick's keynote showcased fresh TeleGeography data with a look at global bandwidth trends, followed by a deeper dive into African network trends.

If you weren't among the audience in Kigali, you can still catch the recording below.

Mar 1, 2021

Putting The Data Center Geography in TeleGeography

When our new WAN Geography Benchmark got a bit of buzz earlier this year, we thought it'd be cool to invite Principal Analyst Patrick Christian back to the pod to explain how this tool was developed.

It's one of those origin stories where a major customer needed to use several of our databases to run a bespoke analysis of their network. The project sparked a bright idea for how to help other enterprises with their data center decision-making.

Feb 17, 2021

2021 Trends in Cloud Infrastructure and Global Networks

Any day that ends in "y" is a good one to explore cloud networks. (New TeleGeography slogan?)

But that's exactly what's happening in Patrick Christian's latest presentation, which reviews underlying cloud infrastructure, its evolution, and its impact on global networks. 

Sep 4, 2019

The Shifting Connectivity Landscape of Africa

Principal Analyst Patrick Christian boarded yet another plane for Africa last month—this time to Mauritius—to join the 10th Anniversary African Peering and Interconnection Forum.

This year, Patrick's presentation explored the shifting connectivity landscape in Africa and its effect on interconnection hubs, showing that new hubs may soon emerge as more and more cities reduce the cost of connectivity and invest in more infrastructure.

Nov 27, 2018

Bandwidth and Pricing Trends in Africa: Patrick Christian at AfPIF 2018

Earlier this year Senior Analyst Patrick Christian shared his knowledge of bandwidth and pricing trends with the African Peering & Interconnection Forum.

Patrick's analysis took the audience through the latest happenings in international bandwidth, namely continued growth in Africa and changes within the region.

Keep scrolling to watch the full presentation and download Patrick's slides.

Aug 24, 2017

The Data Centers Are Coming to Africa

About a year ago I spoke with Senior Analyst Patrick Christian about the local exchange of content in Africa. He gave me a crash course in capacity—how content providers in Africa generally host their content abroad because the cost to do so has always been much lower.

We talked caching, local exchange, and traffic.

With Patrick prepping for a presentation at the 2017 African Peering and Interconnection Forum, it was the perfect opportunity to check in. I got lots of updates about the state of local content, as well as the scoop on the big new story in Sub-Saharan Africa: the coming of the cloud.

Sep 27, 2016

Building the Local Exchange of Content in Africa: Dispatches from AfPIF

For the Internet Society (ISOC), the goal is 80/20 by 2020 in Africa.