No Broadband Users Routes in European IXs

Lolita_Magnum

Lolita_Magnum

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Let me know if anyone has noticed.

I am seeing that Airtel has withdrawn all of their "broadband" customers' routes (IP addresses) from European IXs, i.e., AMS-IX, DE-CIX, etc.
For non-direct peers, this now goes via external transit, i.e., via the US or Singapore.

Example: Broadband User (route from NIKHEF AMSTERDAM)
Code: 
BMI    [ROUTE]/20    216.218.253.140    216.218.252.66 (6939)    1375    100    0    0    9498, 24560    IGP
Learned From IP 216.218.252.66, will lead to Paris and then to Ashburn, eventually to LA, which has a direct handoff to Airtel at 64.62.148.114.

Example: Enterprise User (what you should actually see) (route from NIKHEF AMSTERDAM)
Code: 
Ex    [ROUTE]/20    80.249.211.191    80.249.211.191 (9498)    0    100    0    0    9498    IGP
Learned from IP 80.249.211.191, which is Airtel's peering exchange port of AMS-IX.

The forward route is fine and will be fine, as that will affect the enterprise as well, unless they implement VRF.
So, I am wondering why. This is not an isolated case for a specific carrier in Europe.
 
Let me know what needs to be checked and how.
I shall share my provider's results if its of any help
 
@Rhishav You mean the enterprise gets to have the alternate submarine path while broadband does not?
And, SEA ME WE 4 broke down in September; this issue has started since Jan, from what I can see, and is exclusive to Airtel.
Jio and Tata are working normally.

@AAK I can confirm the forward trace using globalping.
Code: 
Host                                                                               Loss% Drop Rcv   Avg  StDev  Javg
 1. AS???   _gateway (192.168.139.1)                                                0.0%    0   3   0.1    0.0   0.1
 2. AS???   192.168.4.1 (192.168.4.1)                                               0.0%    0   3   1.1    0.3   1.0
 3. AS24560 abts-mum-dynamic-255.63.169.122.airtelbroadband.in (122.169.63.255)     0.0%    0   3   9.3    7.5   9.8
 4. AS9498  dsl-ncr-dynamic-093.88.16.125.airtelbroadband.in (125.16.88.93)         0.0%    0   3   4.8    0.6   3.1
 5. AS???   116.119.161.163 (116.119.161.163)                                       0.0%    0   3 211.9    8.3 112.0
 6. AS???   hu-0-6-0-0.bb03.ams-01.leaseweb.net (80.249.208.215)                    0.0%    0   3 295.9    0.4 148.5
 7. AS???   be-103.br02.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net (31.31.38.79)                        0.0%    0   3 299.2    0.5 150.1
 8. AS???   ae-111.cr07.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net (81.17.32.75)                        0.0%    0   3 305.7    0.2 153.1
 9. AS???   po-1.ce19.ams-01.nl.leaseweb.net (81.17.35.77)                          0.0%    0   3 307.9    0.2 154.0
10. AS60781 hosted-by.leaseweb.com (95.168.168.140)                                 0.0%    0   3 314.9    0.2 157.6

Plus this lookup from PCH says everything.
Code: 
BGP routing table entry for 122.169.48.0/20, version 339956624
Paths: (3 available, best #3, table default)
  Not advertised to any peer
  6461 9498 24560, (aggregated by 24560 122.169.63.255)
    80.249.213.240 from 80.249.213.240 (64.125.1.150)
      Origin IGP, metric 0, valid, external
      Community: 3856:53500
      Last update: Fri Feb 20 23:46:37 2026
  6461 9498 24560, (aggregated by 24560 122.169.63.255)
    80.249.208.122 from 80.249.208.122 (64.125.0.187)
      Origin IGP, metric 0, valid, external
      Community: 3856:53500
      Last update: Fri Feb 20 13:13:42 2026
  3491 9498 24560, (aggregated by 24560 122.169.63.255)
    80.249.209.37 from 80.249.209.37 (63.223.51.12)
      Origin IGP, metric 0, valid, external, best (Older Path)
      Community: 3856:53500
      Last update: Thu Feb 19 11:23:07 2026
 
And, SEA ME WE 4 broke down in September; this issue has started since Jan, from what I can see, and is exclusive to Airtel.
Click to expand...
Its complicated BOM -> MRS route was down due to problems in MENA on 28 Jan.
MAA -> SIN -> LAX -> EU was affected due to problems in AAE1 on 19 Feb.
So now most Airtel -> EU traffic routes either through leftover capacity in MAA -> SIN -> LAX -> EU route or BOM -> south africa -> EU.

Can confirm your speculation from various european looking glass that EU -> AS24560 is mostly through transit and EU -> AS9498 is mostly through direct IX.
Its just that they have prioritized enterprise customers on whatever routes and capacity they are left on.
 
Last edited:
Its been like this since months Airtel doesnt care anymore, if it was cable damage , why is tata and jio having normal routing and latency? Its deliberately done by Airtel for cost cutting
 
@WieldyBinkie That happened on jan 29 and its been almost a month since then. Even before this happened Airtels routing to EU and ME was bad. So i dont think we can blame it on submarine cable damage.
 
I think we can write this now directly to the airtel nodal officer with these above proofs, maybe he/she is learned enough to help technically.
 
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