caribbean ixp proliferation - ctu: caribbean telecommunications

Bevil M. Wooding

Internet Strategist

Packet Clearing House (PCH)

Caribbean Telecommunications Union (CTU)

Caribbean IXP Proliferation

Supporting Development of Critical

Caribbean Infrastructure

Emerging Caribbean Epiphany

Much greater focus has to be put on

increasing education and awareness,

facilitating collaboration (inter-agency and

inter-country), building capacity,

improving policy and legislative

environment and strengthening physical

infrastructure

Internet = Traffic Exchange

Collaboration for mutual benefit

The Internet – Built on Traffic Exchange

The Internet would not exist without

agreements to exchange traffic

The Internet - Built on Traffic Exchange

To facilitate this global traffic

exchange competitor ISPs must

co-operate to serve their clients

and grow their markets

The Cooperation Competition Reality

ISPs must privately cooperate among

themselves to deliver global connectivity,

while very publicly competing for

customers using as leverage:

– price,

– value-add services, and

– performance

Traffic Exchange - Economic Choices

All ISPs

1. Try to exchange as much traffic as

possible with peers at no cost;

AND

2. Pay for access to the rest

ISP goal: Minimise transit to

Minimise costs

Traffic Exchange - Economic Choices

All ISPs

1. Exchange Traffic at No Cost = PEERING

AND

2. Pay for access to the rest = TRANSIT

ISP goal: Minimise transit to

Minimise costs

What is an IXP: Quick Definition

Domestic vs International Interconnection

Internet

ISP-AISP - B

IXP Domestic Network

International Network

An Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a physical infrastructure that allows different Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to exchange Internet traffic between their networks without cost.

Traffic Exchange - Economic Choices

Any country whose ISPs do not PEER with

each other relies exclusively on TRANSIT

This is

– Expensive for the ISP

– Inefficient Routing of Traffic

– Poor QoS to Customers

– Needless export of capital from the economy

Traffic Exchange via Domestic Peering

Participants gain a significant advantage

over any competitors who fail to

participate in the IXP

This advantage grows even greater with

time

Domestic Traffic Exchange Benefits

Any country whose ISPs PEER with each

other derive TECHNICAL benefits.

– Reduce the portion of traffic that must be

delivered via out-of-country transit providers

– Frees capacity on international pipes

– Lowers the latency of domestic traffic

– Provides more efficient route and improves

fault tolerance for domestic traffic

Domestic Traffic Exchange Benefits

Any country whose ISPs PEER with each

other derive ECONOMIC benefits.

– Reduces the Average Per Bit Delivery Costs

(APBDC) for domestic traffic

– Allows ISPs to maintain higher levels of

profitability, reduce costs, or increase

reinvestment

– Provides incentives for the creation of new

domestic services

Proven Solution: Domestic

Peering = IXP

An Internet exchange point (IX or IXP) is a

physical infrastructure that allows different

Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to

exchange Internet traffic between their

networks without cost.

Understanding the Internet Economy

These services must be anchored in

someone’s economy:

– This is why countries with the highest

concentration of Internet infrastructure,

Internet content and Internet connectivity

are the ones seeing the greatest economic

benefit.

Understanding the Internet Economy

There is a distinction between

• developing services that run on the

Internet

and

• building a domestic economy that is

based on the Internet.

Understanding the Internet Economy

FACT

The absence of IXPs compromises a

country’s ability to build a robust

domestic internet ecosystem and

economy

Understanding the Internet Economy

The domestic Internet economy develops

when users shift from merely consuming

content hosted outside of a country, to

producing local content and facilitating

local transactions, all run on local networks

These local networks are in turn, connected to the global Internet.

IXP Benefits: Privacy and Security

By keeping local traffic local,

sensitive data is not subject

to unintended foreign

interrogation

–Sending sensitive data across

national borders presents a

privacy risk to governments

and corporations.

IXP Benefits: Network Applications

IXPs enable high-

bandwidth, low

latency

applications

IXP Benefits: Coordination of Resources

Enables co-ordination

of security,

infrastructure

protection, abuse

response activities

IXP Benefits: Coordination of Resources

Facilitates co-ordination

of security, infrastructure

protection, abuse-

response activities

Caribbean Context

Inefficient and expensive traffic routes

Caribbean ISPs pay exorbitant transit costs

to US IXs

– Costs passed on to consumers

– Providers offer reduced services to keep

costs down

– Low speeds and latency problems on local

loops

Source: Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) 2010 report

Caribbean Context

Large ISPs own primary transit routes and

have little incentive to peer within the region

– LIME and Flow dominate in traffic and

infrastructure

Transit model discriminates against

development of regional content

– Favors consumption of US content;

– ISPs argue that customers prefer international

content

Source: Caribbean Network Operators Group (CaribNOG) 2010 report

ACTIVE IXPsCuracao

HaitiSt Maarten

GrenadaBVI

IN PROGRESSDominica

St Kitts

THINKING ABOUT IT

BarbadosJamaicaSt Lucia

St VincentTrinidad &

Tobago

MAYBE ONE DAYEveryone Else

Internet Exchange Points in the Caribbean

Lo and Behold – There is TRAFFICB

VI-

IX

Lo and Behold – There is TRAFFICG

REX

Beyond IXPs

Accelerating regional development of critical

Internet resources

What are We Really After

Caribbean IXP proliferation is about

– Caribbean Innovation and Entrepreneurship,

– Community Empowerment

– Local Content Generation

– Economic Growth

– Capacity Building and ultimately…

REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT

8/8/2011

Building the Caribbean Internet

Economy and Information Society

LOCAL CONTENT

E-Services, Web and Mobile Apps, Online Repositories, etc

SUPPORT SERVICES

Legislation, Investment, Education, Policy, etc

LOCAL INFRASTRUCTURE

DNS, DNSSEC, Cyber Security,

HR DEVELOPMENT

Technical and Non-Technical Skills

IXPs

8/8

/20

11

30

Thank You

Contact:

Bevil Wooding

Internet Strategist

Packet Clearing House

bevil@pch.net

www.pch.net

About Packet Clearing House

As of 2011, major PCH projects include the construction

and support of more than a third of the world's

approximately 350 Internet Exchange Points (IXPs);

operation of the INOC-DBA global Internet infrastructure

protection hotline communications system; support for

globally anycast domain name system (DNS) resources

including the root and more than eighty Top Level

Domains (TLDs); operation of a global TLD DNSSEC key

management and signing infrastructure with secure

facilities in Singapore, Zurich, and San Jose;

implementation of network research data collection

initiatives in more than three dozen countries; and the

development and presentation of educational materials

to foster a better understanding of Internet architectural

principles and their policy implications among policy

makers, technologists, and the general public.

About the Presenter

Bevil M. Wooding

Internet Strategist, Packet Clearing House

Mr. Wooding serves as the Caribbean Outreach Manager for

Packet Clearing House, an international non-profit research

institute supporting critical internet infrastructure, operations

and analysis in the areas of Internet traffic exchange, routing

economics, and global network development.

He also serves as the Program Director for the Caribbean

Telecommunications Union’s Caribbean ICT Roadshow where

he regularly facilitates regional and international initiatives on

ICT, Innovation, Policy, and Internet Governance and Internet

Exchange Point (IXP) Development.