Overview of Interexchange Developments in other Regions and Relevance to the Caribbean

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Overview of Interexchange Developments in other
Regions and Relevance to the Caribbean
Max A. FigueroaVice President InternationalTerre
mark Worldwide, Inc.305 807 4861mfigueroa_at_terre
mark.com
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What is a NAP?
A great center for access and distribution of
Internet traffic and services where everyone is
connected at a distance of zero.
An operator neutral transit medium that enables a
high speed connection at a low cost given the
massive concentration of telecommunications and
Internet operators.
Facilitates the interconnection of telecom
operators, Internet Service Providers, Content
Providers, large corporations and small/medium
businesses.
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History of NAPs/IXs

• Started in the Mid-90s as a National Science
  Foundation initiative to commercialize the
  Internet Backbone.
• Four initial NAPs were located in in New York,
  Chicago, Washington, DC and California.
• Initially, the NAPs provided interconnection
  services within operator locations.
• Soon thereafter, IXs emerged around the world to
  concentrate capacity for connection of each
  region to the Internet backbone.
• IXs typically provide the interconnection fabric
  and rely on third parties for the collocation
  offering.
• Managed services are normally not provided by the
  IX, relying on third parties or the members
  themselves for ancillary services.
• Operator-neutral NAPs/IX appeared in the early
  2000s to provide more services to a wider
  customer base.
• The NAP of the Americas opened in 2000 as the
  first operator-neutral NAP in the southern
  corridor aimed at facilitating interconnection
  between US and Latin America.
• The NAP of the Americas combined a state of the
  art data center with the necessary switching
  platforms and the managed service to create an
  attractive total package for its users.

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Key Requirements for a NAP
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The Network As The Enabler

• Massive aggregation of fiber and satellite
  networks
• Provides access to business critical
  infrastructure through any medium

Herndon
Culpeper
Madrid
Brussels
Santa Clara
Business Applications
Santo Domingo
Bogotá
Managed Services
Managed Services
Corporate Data Centers
Data Center Infrastructure
Data Center Infrastructure
Amsterdam
Sao Paulo
Personal Computers
Exchange Point Platform
Exchange Point Platform
Miami
PDAs
Public Internet
Network Transport
Mobile Phones
Enterprise Customers
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Example of the Impact of a NAP on Internet
Traffic

• In Miami, the NAP of the Americas has had an
  enormous impact on the Internet traffic volume
  between the US and Latin America.
• A similar effect occurred after the opening of
  the NAP do Brasil in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

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Example of Impact of a NAP on Connectivity Costs
Source Telegeography Global Bandwidth Research
Service
Average Annual Price Reduction 78
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Impact of Connectivity on a Countrys Economic
Development Western Africa
Source Centro de Estudios Económicos Tomillo,
2007
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Impact of Reduction of 20 in Connectivity Costs
in Western Africa
Fuente Centro de Estudios Económicos Tomillo,
2007

• An increase of 1,6 in connectivity would result
  in the long term (5-10 years) in an improvement
  of 5-6 of the per capita GDP in the region.

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What About the Caribbean Region?

• Internet traffic is on the rise around the world,
  especially in Latin America and the Caribbean.
• Internet traffic capacity in the Caribbean is
  only 1 of the total regional capacity despite
  extensive connectivity.
• The region needs a NAP to complement the existing
  infrastructure.

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Caribbean Regional Connectivity
ARCOS
Antillas-1
TCS-1
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NAP del Caribe Project Objectives

• Build and Operate a NAP in the Dominican Republic
  to provide to the Caribbean
• Carrier Neutral Connectivity
• Lower Connectivity Costs
• Highly Secure and Reliable Infrastructure for
  Collocation of Mission Critical Equipment.
• Professional and Managed Services
• Traffic Aggregation and Distribution of Regional
  Traffic

Geographically situated as the
connectivity center for Africa, Europe and the
Americas.
Geographically situated to be An African Gateway
to
Geographically Situated to be the Gateway
Europe and the Americas
Of the Caribbean
To Become the Premier Interconnection Point for
the Caribbean
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NAP del Caribe Design

• Total construction volume of 10.000 m2
• 4.000 m² in collocation space
• Designed to resist earthquakes and Category 5
  hurricanes.
• Electrical infrastructure design for high
  availability of 100 and autonomous operation
  during 14 days.
• Phase 1 in Operation Phase 2 to begin operations
  in 2H 09.

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NAP del Caribe will be Connected to Our Global
Virtual Marketplace
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Benefits to the Region

• The NAP del Caribe will provide the Caribbean
  region with a highly reliable and secure lnternet
  platform to house web-based solutions necessary
  to move the region towards the global information
  economy.
• Individual countries can connect to the NAP del
  Caribe via submarine fiber cable networks to
  enable a true distributed NAP infrastructure for
  the region.
• The NAP del Caribe is positioned to help promote
  economic development and contribute to the
  reduction of the digital divide.

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Conclusion

• The concept of the NAP/IX has evolved to become a
  full service center to house mission critical
  applications.
• A NAP is a necessary piece of infrastructure for
  the Caribbean to join the global economy and can
  bring economical and social benefits to the
  region.
• The NAP del Caribe can be the first step towards
  the development of this critical infrastructure
  in the region.