African Peering and Interconnection Forum 2011

Despite the growing regional infrastructure, most of the cross-border Internet traffic exchange is done in Europe and North America. This is a clear indication that the satellite routing policies are still predominant in a submarine and terrestrial fiber setting.

A visible example is a trace of the path followed by an Internet packet from Nairobi, Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda. The packet from Nairobi will go to Europe then back to Kigali. The anomaly is that Rwanda is a landlocked country, and has its international fiber connectivity terrestrially connected through the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

The scenario is replicated across the entire region and serves a barrier to growth, innovation and operational efficiency. Of most concern is, cross-border and regional communications are entirely dependent on global connectivity.  Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum is a two day forum that aims to address the key Interconnection opportunities and challenges that exist in the region

Session:  Peering and Interconnection Strategies for Operators

Strategic insights on how to identify the appropriate interconnection points in their region and globally will be presented. The emphasis will be on different types of network tools and information to reach this critical conclusion. The underlying objective will be for operators to learn how to predict current and potential trends that will enable them make conscious decisions on how to grow and develop the regions interconnection points.

Moderator: Mark Tinka

Peering Survey, Jonny Martin (PCH)
Peering vs. Transit Economics case of INIT7, Fredy Kuenzler (INIT7)
IPv6 Global Deployment. Where and How?, Martin Levy (Hurricane Electric)