Scotland is set to catch up with "small African nations" after a meeting last week produced a resolution to press ahead with an independent internet exchange.

The Linx (London Internet Exchange), the not-for-profit industry collective which runs the UK's main exchange across several sites from Slough to Docklands, is set to establish the new facility, probably in Edinburgh's South Gyle industrial estate. Ben Hedges, Linx's head of business development, told the Sunday Herald that the move was overdue.

"A Scottish IXP [internet exchange] would bring everything closer. There is immediate enhancement in speed, which can be about five times faster. It ends the phenomenon of 'tromboning' when data sent between two points in Scotland has to go all the way down to London and back again.

"It will bring investment to Scotland and improve resilience in case something breaks, as now everything relies on London.

"There are also political reasons to do this. Even small African nations have IXPs. As a country of five million people, Scotland needs one, even if it doesn't become independent."

After a meeting of Scotland-based internet service and content providers in Edinburgh's Heriot Watt University last week produced a strong show of support for the plan, Linx will present a proposal to its shareholders at its AGM in London.

The membership body, which includes giants such as Google and Facebook as well as many much smaller players on an equal footing, is already in negotiations with hardware suppliers, and claims it could be ready to establish the exchange – no bigger than a domestic refrigerator – by the end of summer.

Costs, to be met by Linx, are expected to be in the hundreds of thousands, depending on the specification of the hardware agreed.

Hedges said: "All the indications are that it's definitely going to happen. The community in Scotland seems to want it, and now we need to have more detailed discussions as to where you would connect if you could, how much traffic is required. To have an exchange you need to have a launch group of people who want to exchange traffic, and once we know that commitment exists we can deploy in three months.

"My sense is that we'll have something up by the end of summer, but if people don't want it or the local network wants to do it itself, that's fine, we would step aside."

Scotland has had its own IXP in the past. ScotIX, established in 1999, quickly foundered because of lack of critical mass of traffic. As the volume of data in transit has increased exponentially in recent years – largely because of the rise of streamed TV and film content – pressure to establish a Scottish exchange has grown.

Andrew Ogilvie, below, managing director of datacentre company Xtraordinary Hosting, a supporter of the IXP plan, said: "By having this hub point we will attract other networks into Scotland. It shows a maturity and technical sophistication for networks to come in and sell internet access.

"They could benefit from 'peering' – the direct exchange of internet traffic between two networks."

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: "We recognise the opportunity that a Scottish internet exchange presents for Scottish businesses and consumers, as well as for enhancing the performance and resilience of our digital networks. That is why we are working closely with Linx to develop plans for this exchange and will continue to lend full support to proposals. We were really encouraged by the enthusiasm for the initiative that was demonstrated by Scottish businesses at the initial meeting.

"If an IXP is introduced in Scotland it will be industry-led. The Scottish Government's role is to facilitate and encourage it in any way we can and help to promote the benefits it could bring to Scotland."