1. Ensuring NREN sustainability
OAU/OsunREN Conference
Obafemi Awolowo University
Ile-Ife, 25 November 2013
Omo OAIYA
WACREN

2. Overview About WACREN Recent Developments
Developments at country level
Proposed Topology
Activities
Sustaining WACREN
Business and Financial Models
Sustainability Tips
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

3. About WACREN Registered in Ghana in 2010 22 potential member NRENs
Second Board and 1st CEO appointed recently
Operational agreement with Ubuntunet Alliance
Partner in AfricaConnect – Capacity Building
Partnership with RENATER
Affiliate partner in eI4Africa project
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OAU REN Conference

4. Our NRENs 8 Established NRENs GARNET - Ghana snRER - Senegal
MaliREN - Mali
RITER - Cote d’Ivoire
NigerREN - Niger
GabonREN - Gabon
TogoREN- Togo
NgREN- Nigeria
Ongoing Initiatives in Benin, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad and Guinea
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OAU REN Conference

5. Recent developments First WACREN AGM (Abuja, July 2013)
Adoption of new constitution
Appointment of new Chair of the Board
Appointment of CEO
Search and Nomination Committee for Board
New Board appointed on 1st September (6 members, incl. CEO)
CEO took office on 1st October 2013
First Board (virtual) meeting in October 2013
Nigerian member is Secretary General of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

6. NREN Development Slow, but significant progress in some countries
Most advanced (close to getting operational):
NgREN
Funding from World Bank
10G MPLS core completed and several links successfully tested (mostly STM-1s)
Video-conferencing equipment delivered and installed in universities in Phase 1
NMC almost completed and network commissioning and launch expected to be done soon
GARNET
Agreement with telecom operator for provision of links to member US$100/Mbps (based on STM1 links)
5 member institutions have already signed up
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

7. NREN Development snRER Other countries
Funding from World Bank (equipment and international connectivity) – procurement process in progress
4 out of 5 public universities already on government fiber backbone
Video-conferencing equipment delivered and installed in all public universities and regional hospitals
5th university to be connected via Gb/s wireless link
Other countries
RITER (ci): data centers commissioned; negotiation with telecom operators for interconnection in progress
TogoREN: challenges at campus level (campus network of Université de Kara)
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OAU REN Conference

8. Many Possibilities
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OAU REN Conference

9. Proposed Topology (1)
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OAU REN Conference

10. Proposed Topology (2) Simple - Core + Access
3 principal IX at Dakar, Lagos and Accra (+ Douala/Libreville)
Multiple Submarine Cable Access
2 links to Paris and London 
Redundant links from Hubs to NRENs 
> 1 Gig Access
> 10G Core
Long term IRU’s
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OAU REN Conference

11. International activities
Discussion underway with ASREN for sharing rack space in London
Router donated by Cisco/ISOC
RFI sent to NRENs for establishment of first link to GEANT
Meeting ASREN and UA in London
ei4Africa
Raise awareness and build build cooperation between Euro- African NRENs, RENs & user communities
Produce a state-of-the-art study of e-Infrastructure application uptake in Africa
Flagship demonstrations to illustrate relevance
AfricaConnect
EC supported regional network of Southern and Eastern African countries using terrestrial facilities with interconnection to GÉANT
Phase II readiness survey for West and Central Africa underfoot
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

12. Sustainability What does this mean to us? How do we plan to achieve?
Ability to finance WACREN from service revenues
Progressively reduce dependency on donor funding
How do we plan to achieve?
Long term transparent operational plan with ownership and support from NREN members
Build and sustain demand for services
Reduce operating costs
Involve private sector
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

13. Critical Elements Low Internet bandwidth prices
Low cost campus wireless
Innovative R&E services
Well-trained and motivated ICT staff
Community participation in service development and governance.
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

14. WACREN Business Model Skinny Secretariat
Federate interests of NREN communities
Capitalize network to reduce operating costs
Indefeasible Right of Use - IRU
Share costs of international connections
Leverage NREN Capacities
Access to submarine communication cables
Peering with local commodity networks at Internet Exchanges
Research Communities
Establish NOCs at NREN Level & Capacity Building for NREN techs to maintain NOCs
Local industry relationships
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

15. Secretariat and Staffing Costs Costs of Regional Network
Financial Model
Secretariat and Staffing Costs
Costs of Regional Network
International Connectivity
Service Costs
Capacity Building
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

16. Sustainability Tips for NRENs
Have a clear REN mission and policies owned by members and accepted by industry.
Have a representative council of members in addition to the board to sustain collective.
Drive conversations towards collaboration within the community and with external stakeholders – Government, Telcos, Regulator.
Look for dark fibre or wavelengths – be change agents.
Do not compete unfairly with the market
Ultimate goal is to increase demand!
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference

17. Ese pupo
I pointed out to you the stars and all you saw was the tip of my finger – African Proverb
We need to look beyond the finger tip!
Website:
25/11/2013
OAU REN Conference