International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Arab Regional Office NAP FOR THE ARAB STATES Mohamed E. Al-Thawadi Bahrain Internet Exchange

TABLE OF CONTENTS NAP Initiative Description of the Project Objectives of the project Recommendation on venues for NAPs Recommendation for the next phase

NAP INITIATIVE The majority of Arab internet activity is exchanged outside the Arab region through Network Access Points in the United States and other countries. Current connection points, through network access points outside the Arab region, have the following limitations: Lack of optimal use of capacities Delay in transfer of information and loading of applications Possible occurrence of problems and service cut-offs, which results in undermining security. Lower quality Higher cost

DESCRIPTION OF THE PROJECT This project aims at providing access points to connect Arab Internet networks, such that traffic between Arab countries passes through those points. Moreover, information sent to destinations outside the Arab region passes through those points.

OBJECTIVES OF THE PROJECT It is expected that this project will help produce the following benefits: To increase Internet usage Savings on the utilization of bandwidth between connected countries and the USA, which is a major cost of Internet services. Hence it will reduce Internet usage costs and provide benefit to the end user To increase Arab digital content To reduce the cost of the international calls between the Arab countries by using voice over IP technology through the connectivity available

CONTINUE… To ensure uninterrupted connection between Arab countries in the event of failure of some international routes To improve the quality of service, reduce bottlenecks, and accelerate access to various applications To allow for the optimal use of available infrastructures and capacities To enhance the Economic status for the participating countries due to mass use of internet, ease in carrying out e-business, growth in e-learning, evolvement of Arabs as leading IT professionals, better e-governance facilities and telecommunication vibrancy

RECOMMENDATION ON VENUES FOR NAPs A Quick Look: Morocco for the proximity of Europe (easy access to landing point of internet traffic in Europe) and the capacity of Internet bandwidth availability Cairo due to heavy Arabic content and capacity of Internet bandwidth availability Dubai for the financial strength, marketing platforms and the capacity of Internet bandwidth availability Bahrain for its financial strength, strategic geographical location, telecommunications open market policy and availability of skilled professionals

CONTINUE… Three NAPs are being proposed and recommended, namely: NAP of the GCC at Dubai with participating countries viz. Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, UAE and Yemen NAP of the Middle East at Egypt with participating countries viz. Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Comoros, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Jordan, Egypt and Iraq NAP of the Western Arab at Morocco with participating countries viz. Algeria, Mauritania, Libya, Tunisia and Morocco

CONTINUE… One back up NAP has been proposed and recommended: Bahrain – Optionally, can be considered to host the NAP if Dubai declined

CONNECTIVITY

INTERCONNECTIVITY OF NAPs The NAPs proposed are to be connected to each other using dedicated redundant fiber cable backbone without any dependencies on international Cable link providers This will ensure: Uninterrupted connection between Arab countries in the event of failure of some or all international routes RE-route traffic in case of any NAP fiber or international link failure Load balancing within the NAPs incase of overload traffic for any of the NAP Redundancy within the NAPs incase of failure in any of the NAP

RECOMMENDATION ON INTERNET POLICY A consortium has to be form to operate the respective NAPs from the participating countries. This consortium has to focus on providing: A high quality, redundant and resilient service to its clients (the IXP’s, Telco’s and ISPs of the participating Countries) and will enter into Peering relationships if it feels that such a relationship will be to the overall continuing benefit of the consortium and its clients. Every NAP has separate policies based on the primary place of Business of the requester, the scope of their network and their Traffic mix.

HARMONIZATION RECOMMENDATION All the participating countries should be encouraged to establish their own Internet Exchange Points. Extensive interaction between the Regulatory bodies of the Participating countries to formulate a policy and standards to deploy common commercial and technical norms so that interoperability is ensured the deployment of the Internet Exchange Points.

RECOMMENDATION FOR THE NEXT PHASE Formulation of a steering committee to be responsible of the overall policy and direction of the project. The members of the committee are recommended to be from the countries where NAPs have been recommended. To form an initial project team and organizational plan, their roles and responsibilities, Project/program office to coordinate the effort, Milestone plan, Project definition Report and initial risk assessments

E-mail: e.director@bix.bh THANK YOU QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS E-mail: e.director@bix.bh