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Packet Clearing House

Packet Clearing House (PCH) is the international organization responsible for providing operational support and security to critical Internet infrastructure, including Internet exchange points and the core of the Domain Name System. The organization also works in the areas of cybersecurity coordination, regulatory policy and Internet governance.

Overview

Packet Clearing House (PCH) was formed in 1994 by Chris Alan and Mark Kent to provide efficient regional and local network interconnection alternatives for the West Coast of the United States. It has grown to become a leading proponent of neutral independent network interconnection and provider of route-servers at major exchange points worldwide.

PCH provides equipment, training, data, and operational support to organizations and individual researchers seeking to improve the quality, robustness, and Internet accessibility.

Major PCH projects include:

  • Building and supporting nearly half of the world's approximately 700 Internet exchange points (IXPs), and maintaining the canonical index of Internet exchange points, with data going back to 1994;
  • Operating the world's largest anycast Domain Name System (DNS) server platform, including two root nameservers, more than 400 top-level domains (TLDs) including the country-code domains of more than 130 countries, and the Quad9 recursive resolver;
  • Operating the only FIPS 140-2 Level 4 global TLD DNSSEC key management and signing infrastructure, with facilities in Singapore, Zurich, and San Jose,
  • Implementing network research data collection initiatives in more than 130 countries;
  • Publishing original research and policy guidance in the areas of telecommunications regulation, including the 2011, 2016 and 2021 Interconnection Surveys, country reports such as those for Canada in 2012 and 2016 and Paraguay in 2012, and a survey of critical infrastructure experts for the GCSC; and
  • Developing and presenting educational materials to foster a better understanding of Internet architectural principles and their policy implications among policymakers, technologists, and the general public.

Notable past projects include the INOC-DBA critical infrastructure protection hotline communications system, now operated by the Brazilian CERT.

PCH has more than 500 institutional donors, including the Soros Open Society Institute, which funded PCH in developing open source tools which help Internet service providers (ISPs) optimize their traffic routing, reduce costs and increase performance of Internet service delivered to the public; the United Nations Development Programme; Cisco Systems; NTT/Verio; Lumen; Equinix; the governments of Sweden, Denmark, Canada, Mexico, France, Singapore, Chile, Switzerland, and the United States; and hundreds of Internet service providers and individuals.

PCH works closely with the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) to offer courses on telecommunications regulation, Internet infrastructure construction and management, Domain Name System management, and Internet security coordination, three times a year in Washington, D.C. It also teaches in 80 to 100 on-location workshops a year throughout the world.

Locations

As of July 2025, PCH maintains staffed offices in Paris, San Francisco, Amsterdam, Kathmandu, Budapest, Johannesburg, Abu Dhabi, Washington and Portland and operates critical network infrastructure within 333 Internet exchange points.

Board of directors

PCH's board of directors consists of Steve Feldman (chairman), Bill Woodcock (secretary general), Sylvie LaPerriere, Gregory Akers, and Mark Tinka.

Personnel

Packet Clearing House (PCH) lists Eddy Kayihura as Director of Government Affairs. Kayihura is Rwandan and previously served as chief executive officer of AFRINIC. Prior to his role at AFRINIC, he held senior positions in Rwanda's financial sector, including executive roles at the Bank of Kigali.

During his tenure at AFRINIC, the regional registry faced widely reported governance disputes, allegations of corruption and dysfunction. Independent media described AFRINIC as an organization “laid low by allegations of corruption and dysfunction.” AFRINIC was subsequently subject to prolonged litigation and court intervention in Mauritius.

In May 2023, Rwandan President Paul Kagame received Bill Woodcock, executive director of PCH, in Kigali to discuss cooperation on internet infrastructure development and internet exchange operations.

See also

References

External links