wacren - ensuring nren sustainability

Ensuring NREN sustainability

Omo OAIYAWACREN

[email protected]

Osun-Ife REN ConferenceObafemi Awolowo UniversityIle-Ife, 25 November 2013

mailto:[email protected]

OAU REN Conference 2

Overview

• About WACREN• Recent Developments• Developments at country level• Proposed Topology• Activities• Sustaining WACREN• Business and Financial Models• Sustainability Tips25/11/2013


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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Our NRENs

8 Established NRENs • GARNET - Ghana • snRER - Senegal • MaliREN - Mali • RITER - Cote d’Ivoire • NigerREN - Niger • GabonREN - Gabon • TogoREN- Togo • NgREN- NigeriaOngoing Initiatives in Benin, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Chad and Guinea25/11/2013


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

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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 up25/11/2013


NREN Development snRER

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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Many Possibilities

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Proposed Topology (1)

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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’s25/11/2013


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

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Sustainability

▪ What does this mean to us? 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

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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.

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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

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Financial Model

Secretariat and Staffing Costs Costs of Regional Network International Connectivity Service Costs Capacity Building

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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!

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Ese pupoI 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: [email protected]

Website: http://www.wacren.net

25/11/2013

wacren - ensuring nren sustainability

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