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

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

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 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

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 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

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 2013 (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

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 institutions @ US$100/Mbps (based on STM1 links) 5 member institutions have already signed up 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

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) 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

Many Possibilities 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

Proposed Topology (1) 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

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 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference

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

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

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

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

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

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

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! Email: omo@wacren.net Website: http://www.wacren.net 25/11/2013 OAU REN Conference