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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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