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

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

3. 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

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

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

10. CONNECTIVITY

11. 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

12. 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.

13. 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.

14. 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

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