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Intra-African Connectivity

Intra-African Connectivity. Bridges to a continental backbone. iWeek , Johannesburg, SA 17 th September 2003. Introduction. Brian Longwe General Manager, AfrISPA. Background. IS the USA really the backbone of the Internet?. Background. US Centric Traffic Flows. Cumbersome!. Problems.

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Intra-African Connectivity

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  1. Intra-African Connectivity Bridges to a continental backbone iWeek, Johannesburg, SA 17th September 2003

  2. Introduction • Brian Longwe • General Manager, AfrISPA

  3. Background • IS the USA really the backbone of the Internet?

  4. Background • US Centric Traffic Flows Cumbersome!

  5. Problems • Poor Performance on transfers between African countries • 900 – 2000ms latency for Inter-country traffic • Heavy dependence on Inter-Continental Satellite connectivity • Insufficient internal optical fibre connectivity • Insufficient cross-border connectivity

  6. Barriers • Legislation • Economics • Socio-Political Agendas • Inter-Provider Cooperation and Collaboration

  7. Solutions • National Exchange Points: Interconnecting Local ISPs Gateways Local ISPs Keep Local Traffic Local! Internet Exchange Point

  8. Solutions • Regional Exchange Points: Interconnecting National IXs

  9. Status of IXPs/NAPs in Africa • South Africa: JINX - est. 1997 • Zimbabwe: ZIX - est. 1999 • Kenya: KIXP - est. Feb. 2002 • Mozambique: MOZ-IX - est. May 2002 • Egypt: EG-IX - est. May 2002 • Kinshasa, DRC: KINIX - est. December 2002 Uganda: UIXP – est. June 2003 • Tanzania: TIXP- est. June2003 • Nigeria: IBIX - est. April 2003 • Nigeria: Lagos IX - est. Aug 2003?

  10. Status of IXPs/NAPs in Africa Out of 53 countries in Africa… … only 9 have national IXPs AfrISPA’s African Internet Exchange Task Force - AFIX-TF aims to facilitate the establishment of up to 30 IXPs over the next 3 years ∂

  11. IXPs: Things to Do • Any Peering/IX initiative involves 10% technical work • The remaining 90% is relationships (socio-political engineering) • Official regulatory support • Definition of internal peering policy framework

  12. Regional Internet Traffic Exchange: Justifications • Most African countries exchange Internet traffic via countries in the West (and Asia) • African ISPs must purchase transit to African destinations via US/European/Asian ISPs • This equates to an exportation of capital to developed nations at the expense of developing countries

  13. Regional Internet Traffic Exchange: Justifications Share of backbone connections to countries with less than 5 ISPs Source: OECD via Netcraft

  14. Regional Internet Exchange: Justifications • Independent Research shows that Africa loses over US$400 Million/yr for telecommunications traffic exchange via other continents • The least developed continent in the world… • …paying the most developed for internal communications? • This does not make sense!

  15. Regional Internet Exchange: Justifications • A strong, domestic Internet industry creates high-paying knowledge worker positions • Domestic traffic exchange reduces the importation of foreign content and cultural values, in favor of domestic content authoring and publishing

  16. Regional Internet Exchange: Strategy • Establishment of National Internet Exchange Points • Create opportunities for the emergence of Regional Carriers facilitating regional peering/continental transit • Promote the development of cross-border links and inter-country infrastructure

  17. Critical Factors for Regional IXPs/Regional Carriers • National Exchanges • Political Support • Policy Reform • Regulatory “Provisioning” • Regional Cooperation • Strategic Partnerships • Existence of “Critical Infrastructure” • DIGITAL ARTERIES

  18. SAT-2, SAT-3/WASC/SAFE, SEA-ME-WE, ATLANTIS 2, FLAG Source: CTiA Report 2002/03 Current African Submarine Fibre Connectivity: Mostly “Perimeter”

  19. Planned Intra-Country Fibre: COMTEL Source: CTiA Report 2002/03

  20. Planned Intra-Country Fibre: SRII Source: CTiA Report 2002/03

  21. Planned Intra-Country Fibre: EADTP Source: CTiA Report 2002/03

  22. Current Initiatives • AfrISPAs AFIX-TF • 30 IXPs over next 3 years • Connectivity Africa’s RXP Project • “Proof of Concept” Regional Exchange Point • Pan African Virtual Internet Exchange - PAVIX • East African Marine Fiber • Optical linkage between Durban and Djibouti

  23. Thank You! • http://www.afrispa.org • http://www.catia.ws • http://www.connectivityafrica.org

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