1. Movenpick Tower and Suite Hotel, Doha
Session Two: Effective Framework for Infrastructure Development: A Key Enabler for the Development of Applications and Services
ITU Workshop – Survey and Assessment for Internet Traffic Infrastructure
6 November 2012
Movenpick Tower and Suite Hotel, Doha
Sofie Maddens Toscano
ITU Expert

2. Key Elements for Infrastructure Development
Governance Framework– Institutional Framework, Policy and Legal and Regulatory Framework
Physical infrastructure - Internet infrastructure must be available, affordable, and have sufficient capacity and content for people to [want to/need to] access information
Capacity Building

3. Key Governance Issues
Institutional framework and stakeholder coordination
Implementation of key regulatory and policy issues to promote infrastructure roll-out, stimulation and take-up
Issues related to the surge in use of evolving online applications and services
Environmental issues
Regulatory Framework for Financing of Infrastructure roll-out and take-up

4. “Well-articulated broadband strategies and plans are now needed to ensure that all citizens get to benefit from new applications, services and business that the broadband world helps bring into being”
Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau

5. Reasons for Broadband Strategy
Strategies normally set the stage for policies, programs, projects and regulatory measures that implement any defined vision
Strategies are useful to send the right signal to investors about long-term investments opportunity
Strategies are useful to provide insight about how the legislative and regulatory environment might evolve over time
Strategies need to be flexible enough to evolve
Over 130 governments have today adopted or are planning to adopt a national policy, strategy or plan to promote broadband.
Many of the region’s countries have already adopted such documents. Such is the case in Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. They generally share a common focus on building nationwide broadband infrastructure, on stimulating demand through the promotion of online services and applications, and on extending connectivity to provide universal access.
Source: ITU Regulatory Database

6. Broadband Strategies - overview
More than 130 governments worldwide have adopted or are planning to adopt a national policy, strategy or plan to promote broadband
Many broadband policies and plans focus on building nationwide broadband infrastructure, stimulating demand through the adoption of online services and applications, and extending connectivity to provide universal access

7. Institutional Framework
Today there are 158 separate telecom/ICT regulators worldwide
Mandates of regulators have been expanded to include:
Information technology and broadcasting (broadcasting content - 18 %)
Electronic content, cybersecurity, data protection, and privacy (regulators in charge of cybersecurity - almost 40 %; regulation of Internet content - 16 %)
Environmental matters

9. Why Regulatory Intervention?
International best practice shows that a solid national regulatory framework is seen as a key requirement to accelerate infrastructure roll-out and to stimulate the development of new digital goods and services
What does this mean in effect?

10. Legal and Regulatory Issues
Licensing- General Authorization Regimes for Electronic Communications networks and services to facilitate market entry
Spectrum – flexibility and shared use to promote efficiency - in-band migration, spectrum sharing and spectrum trading,
Universal access and service strategy aimed at promoting investments in more remote areas which may include Broadband

11. Legal and Regulatory Issues
Regulatory decisions to foster competition and reduce prices in the telecom market, including market analysis, tariff regulations, mobile number portability
Access Measures including regulations on leased lines, active and passive infrastructure sharing, rights of way and local loop unbundling
The EC estimates that around 80% of the costs of deploying new infrastructure are civil engineering costs and these can be greatly reduced using town planning rules and regulatory remedies mandating access to passive infrastructures. Possible measures
Making the installation of new passive infrastructures and in-building wiring a requirement for planning authorizations.
Encouraging local authorities and regulators to make use of their powers to require the disclosure of the existence and condition of local access infrastructures from operators

12. Legal and Regulatory Issues
Laws which are essential to the development of the Information Society - e-signature, cybercrime, protection of minors, electronic commerce, and e-documents
Social Media issues – local presence, public awareness, privacy and use

13. “As broadband delivers “smart” solutions for our modern lives, regulators and policy-makers must develop “smart” regulatory frameworks for a broadband world”
Brahima Sanou, Director of ITU’s Telecommunication Development Bureau

14. Physical Infrastructure
Internet infrastructure must be available, affordable, and have sufficient capacity for people to access information
Access remains among the top major challenges in the Arab region
At the end of 2011, the Arab States overall had reached an estimated Internet penetration of 29.1%, compared to 34.7% globally

15. Physical Infrastructure
The Internet is an international “network of networks”
In order to provide the physical connections between widely separated broadband resources and consumers, countries must establish international links (gateways) to connect to the world’s Internet and telephone networks, but also ensure effective middle and last mile solutions

16. Physical Infrastructure
International connectivity to developing regions has increased dramatically in recent years
In Africa a number of submarine cables were launched, such as EASSy, Main One and GLO-1 in it is projected that by the end of 2012 almost every coastal African country will have at least one submarine cable connection, with a number having more than 5 connections

17. African Fiber cables
Between 2009 and mid-2010, East Africa went from 0 undersea fibre capacity to over 6 Tbps
Submarine cables reach 4.4% of Africa’s population
25.8Tbps of Submarine cable capacity by 2012
In East Africa prices dropped from $2k – $12k USD per Mbps (satellite) to $150- $600 USD per Mbps
Round trip times dropped from circa 800ms to circa 200ms

18. Terrestrial Fiber
Increased investments by Governments and private sector
By July 2012, Africa’s total inventory of terrestrial transmission networks reached 732,662-km
Some regions are more aggressive than others
313m people were within reach of a fiber node
Expected to reach 50% of population with completion of planned projects
Cross border interconnection is still a challenge

19. Physical Infrastructure
Service providers need to contract physical international connections in order to support their end user broadband requirements
They do so either by participating in ownership consortiums of the physical facilities or by leasing connectivity through wholesale operators
Note: A relatively small number of Internet service providers (ISPs) have the financial resources needed to invest directly in capacity in international backbone broadband networks, so most lease capacity from larger international operators

20. Physical Infrastructure
National and middle mile capacity still represents a significant portion of the cost of broadband – more competition is needed
Need for holistic approach to infrastructure to backhaul from the landing stations to operators’ main points of presence and between those PoPs: options may include terrestrial fibre as well as satellite and fibre over power lines

21. Physical Infrastructure
As the Internet increasingly globalizes, the interconnection between networks, content providers and users is more and more critical to creating the ‘network of networks’ that is the Internet
At the center of this globalization are Internet exchange points (IXPs), facilities where all Internet players can interconnect directly to each other, thereby improving quality of service and reducing transmission costs

22. Physical Infrastructure
Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) are locations where a variety of providers (including ISPs, content providers, and enterprises) can locate servers and caches in order to exchange traffic with one another
IXPs act as centers of connectivity where content can be stored on servers and easily delivered to ISPs at low cost and with low latency

23. Physical Infrastructure
IXPs typically follow a gradual evolution path, building on the growing number and diversity of their members over time
Early in the Internet development cycle – more cost-effective to use their international Internet connections to exchange domestic traffic - ‘tromboning’
The establishment of an IXP in the country enables local ISPs to connect directly together and exchange domestic traffic, typically with settlement-free peering, thereby reducing or eliminating tromboning and saving cost on international transit while reducing latency

24. Physical Infrastructure
Increased need to localize Internet interconnection
consumers’ growing demand for services with increasing bandwidth (such as video)
lower tolerance for latency (such as Voice over IP)
The Kenya Internet Exchange Point (KIXP)
localizes more than 1Gbit/s of peak traffic
reduces latency (from ms to 2-10ms on average)
has allowed ISPs to save almost $1.5 million per year on international connectivity
has increased mobile data revenues by an estimated $6 million for operators having generated at least an additional traffic of 100Mbit/s per year1;
helps the localization of content in the country including from Google;
is critical to raising government tax revenues
increasingly acts as a regional hub for traffic from neighboring countries

25. Physical Infrastructure
To the extent that the IXP begins to build critical mass, involving most or all of the ISPs, it will also begin to attract content providers, along with business, academic, and government users, and thereby become the center of a vibrant Internet ecosystem in the country
Further, the IXP can also begin to attract international content and connectivity providers, becoming a regional center for Internet traffic

26. Physical Infrastructure
Source: Kende, M., Report for the Internet Society:
How the Internet continues to sustain growth and innovation, October 2012

27. Physical Infrastructure
More than 350 IXPs are now operational worldwide with the US leading, at about 86 IXPs around the country
The other countries with more than 10 IXPs are: Australia (11), Brazil (19), France (15), Germany (14), Japan (16), Russia (14), Sweden (12), and United Kingdom (12)
91 countries have so far established operational IXPs

28. Internet Exchange Points in Africa
26 Internet exchange points (IXPs) in Africa of which only 20 are known to be operational
21 African Countries (39%)
South Africa (3), Tanzania (2), Nigeria and Kenya (2) are countries with more than 1 IXP
West Africa has lowest number of IXPs by ratio (30%)
New IXPs launched in Lesotho and Sudan in 2011
Source:

29. Physical Infrastructure
According to Packet Clearing House Report on Internet Exchange Point Locations, there are 6 Arab Countries with IXPs :
Egypt
Lebanon
UAE
Bahrain
Saudi Arabia

30. Physical Infrastructure
But is the access challenge dependent only on infrastructure or on affordability or is it also a function of how rich, vibrant, and relevant the online content is?

31. Benefits of Access
Arab countries can benefit from the Internet to guarantee good governance mechanisms through establishing e-government, reinforcing the notion of freedom of expression, access to information in order to increase citizens’ participation in the local policy making process

32. Capacity Building IMPORTANCE OF CAPACITY BUILDING
An IXP benefits from network effects – the more members it has, the more valuable it becomes to join the IXP in order to be able to exchange traffic with the existing members
As a result, a well-run IXP providing such benefits can develop critical mass, becoming home to many or all of the ISPs and content providers in the country, and bringing significant benefits to its members and the surrounding ecosystem
IMPORTANCE OF CAPACITY BUILDING

33. Advancing the Value and Viability of IXPs
Not all at the same level of development!
Most current IXPs only between “Level 1 and 2”
We aim to move African IXPs “Up the Curve!”
Level “0”
No IXP
Level 1
“Boxes and Wires”
Level 2
Core Functionality
Level 3
Catalysing Growth
Level 4
Thriving, Critical Infrastructure

34. African Internet Exchange System (AXIS)
The Internet Society has been contracted by the African Union to conduct 60 capacity building workshops in 30 countries (AU Members states) without IXPs.
30 Best Practice Workshops and community mobilization
30 Technical Aspects workshops (hands-on)
AXIS project supports the establishment of a continental African internet infrastructure.
The project aims to create an African internet system through setting up:
internet exchange points in 33 African countries
five regional internet hubs
five regional and three continental internet carriers
This will help move many countries from Level 0

35. Sources
Analysys Mason Limited and The Internet Society (ISOC), Assessment of the impact of Internet Exchange Points – empirical study of Kenya and Nigeria, 2012
Analysys Mason Limited and The Internet Society (ISOC), How the Internet continues to sustain growth and innovation, 2012
ITU, Smart Regulation for a Broadband World, 2012
Promoting the use of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): A Guide to Policy, Management and Technical Issues, March 2012

36. Thank you! Sofie Maddens Toscano Senior Director Global Services
The Internet Society