Nigeria needs Internet Registry – Rudman

Managing Director, Internet eXchange Point Nigeria Limited (IXNP), Mr. Muhammed Rudman, has advocated for the establishment of a National Internet Registry (NIR) to oversee the management of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in the country.

Internet Protocol address is a numerical label assigned to devices participating in a computer network that use the Internet to communicate with each other.

Also referred to as ‘IP number’ or just ‘IP,’ this code usually consists of numbers separated by three dots that identifies a particular computer on the Internet. IP started with IP version 4 (IPv4) with 32 bit address worth 4.3 billion hosts and now there is version 6, (IPv6).

He also said that registry when established should be tasked first and foremost to develop a National IPv6 Roadmap to strategize the IPv6 transition, nationwide.

Speaking on ‘IPv6 and Challenges in Nigeria’ at the recently held one-day forum organized by Digital Sense Africa (DSA) with the support of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in Lagos, in preparation of the country for the global Internet Governance Forum 2010 scheduled to hold in Lithuania, in September this year, Mr. Rudman also said there is need to set up an IPv6 awareness and capacity building through seminars and trainings and incorporate IPv6 into the university curriculum.

The Federal Government through the regulator, NCC, should as matter of urgency provide some incentives to Internet industry to encourage them to adopt IPv6-based Infrastructure.

“These incentives can include reduction in regulatory fee and tax rebates,” he declared, noting that currently, Nigeria has about 300 lnternet Service Providers (ISPs), but only an estimated 20 per cent, which is 60 of the licensees are operational.

Noting there are only two ISPs in the country with IPv6, namely, 2001:4270:: 32 was allocated to Netcom Africa on June 15, 2006 and 2001:43b0: 32 was allocated to Cyberspace on March 10, 2009.

He also advised that upstream Internet connectivity providers should be asked to enable IPv6 readiness in their networks.

Mr. Rudman told participants at the forum presided over by the chairman, Internet Service Providers Associations of Nigeria (ISPAN), Chief Samuel Adeleke that the world cannot wait for Nigeria to migrate, therefore the nation needs every step forward to ensure any leap makes a milestone.

Pointing out that when the internet began it was in a university and they have no problems giving out IP addresses and over time, the initial IP addresses available was the IPv4 with about 4bn, which is now depleting.

Globally, he said, IPv4 remains 10 per cent, hence the introduction of version 6 became crucial, noting though that in Africa her quota is still remaining about 60 per cent at the African Network Information Center (AfriNIC) based in Kenya and 40 per cent has been distributed, while Tunisia has 2 per cent, Morocco 4 per cent, Algeria 5 per cent, Egypt 16 per cent, South Africa 59 per cent with others including Nigeria having 14 per cent.

“Most of the Internet security we have been talking about has to do with IP addresses. And because of billions of new users in China and India and new devices like mobile phones, Personal Data Assistant (PDA), cars, with IP addresses so that you can browse, IPv6 was introduced,” he said, citing an instance within an Indian refinery that runs on IP addresses using 51,000 devices and each one must have an IP addresses.

On the IPv6 challenges in Nigeria, Rudman said ISPs need business cases, but presently lack technical knowhow, core equipment compatibility issues, maintaining that lack of IPv6 upstream service providers and non request of IPv6 from end users have contributed to slow in adaptation of IPv6 in the country.

“All new IT equipment supplied to government should be IPv6 compliant and government to set target date for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to have IPv6 compliant networks.

IPv6, he said, is scalability and has security, real time application, auto-configuration, mobility, addressing and routing, as well as extensibility, just as he assured that the transition and co-existence techniques showed that IPv6 has been designed for ease application with dual stack, which allows for simultaneous support for both IPv4 and IPv6 stacks, while the tunnels for IPv6 packet have been encapsulated in IPv4 models in addition to dual mechanism for translation.

According to him, based on the Darwinian imperative, it is either one modernizes, reorganize or die if not ready to adhere to IPv6.


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Internet Governance 2009: IP blocking unacceptable to Nigeria – Stakeholders

Nigeria Internet community would canvass for the appropriate security regulation and application, mostly on Internet Protocol (IP) blocking at the on-going Internet Governance Forum (IGF) holding in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

Participants at the recently concluded one-day Nigeria Digital Sense forum in a communiqué made available to ITRealms Online by the organizers, Digital Sense Africa (DSA) in collaboration with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on the theme: “Internet Governance:
Creating Opportunities for All Nigerians” agreed that issues of Internet Protocol (IP) blocking on Nigeria IP addresses is not acceptable.

Thus, there is need to revisit the issue so as to avoid blocking of every IP address with link to Nigeria.

This is coming as the Swiss delegates have concluded strategies to advocate for online human rights and freedom of expression.

The Nigeria Digital Sense forum communiqué dated November 10, according to the DSA Executive Director, Operations, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, was in preparation of every Nigerian Internet stakeholder who may be participating at the five-day event on Internet Governance, insisting that all Nigerians are not criminally minded.

She pointed that a harmonized voice within the Nigerian Internet community has become critical to the development of Internet in the country and the sub-region as well as the African continent in its entirety.

As stated in the communiqué, stakeholders called to mind that harmonized voice among Nigerian Internet community will provide the opportunity to have a united front before confronting the world at the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

The Nigeria Digital Sense forum, therefore, identified security as a major issue of concern for the Nigerian Internet community to adequately canvass at the global assembly, thereby affording the nation to come together with other communities from around the world to ensure optimization of access, openness, security, diversity and internet governance.

“Equally, we call to mind that the release recently by the United States Affirmation of Commitment to the global internet community via the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN); is a welcome development that could endear the trust of those hitherto not comfortable with the arrangement which began with the US Department of Commerce (DoC),” part of the communiqué read.

Stressing that stakeholders at DSA forum 2009, aligned themselves with the outcome of the West African Internet Governance forum, held in Accra-Ghana recently, especially in the areas of encouraging African countries to take the issues of Internet Governance more seriously by ensuring engagement of stakeholders at IGF level.

Therefore, stakeholders urged for increased participation of Nigeria Internet community at the on-going IGF, which has been reportedly stalled by the Egyptian government over the demand and insistence that visitors to the country must have, at least, $3,000 cash before entry visa could be granted.

However, participants were urged to make pronouncements in respect to the security of the Internet and discrimination thereof, especially meted out on honest and God-fearing Nigerians who are more interested in engaging positively with the world on the Internet.

The discrimination against Nigerian-based Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, they said, should stop because it is negatively affecting the majority of Nigerians who are honestly engaged on the Internet.

“Both the government of Nigeria and Internet community in the country should strive in enlightening the populace and the world over on the keenness of the majority of Nigerians in deploying Internet for ICT for Development (ICT4D) growth,” part of the communiqué also read.

Equally, Nigeria’s Internet Service Providers (ISPs), especially members of the ISP Association of Nigeria (ISPAN), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON) and Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), should connect without further delay with the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), so as to encourage local internet to remain local, which has multiplier effect, including saving money for both the ISPs and customers – the end-users.

“Nigeria should canvass for a root server to be located in the country to further push and retain local traffic locally,” it read, even as ISPAN member in addition to ALTON, ATCON to name a few to should comply by ensuring registration of their domains within the country code Top Level Domains (ccTLD), .ng system.

“This will make the .ng commercially viable and eventually give the ccTLD the popularity it needed to be feasible among equals,” the communique further read, maintaining that Nigerians participating at the IGF 2009 must ensure that alienation of Nigeria’s IP addresses (IP blocking) is stopped and that Nigeria has the population to push its desire and voice to be heard in Egypt and at all conferences in relation to Internet and its governance even beyond IGF.

“There is need to refocus Nigerian youths engaged in online fraud (cybercrime) otherwise known as ‘Yahoo, Yahoo’ by way of granting them amnesty followed with skilled training and adoption into the mainstream, in order to positively utilize their talents.

While urging a strengthened partnership of the forum in the future through collaboration with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agency of government, mostly at the federal level including the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) among other public private partnership, DSA was supported by Galaxy Backbone Plc, MTN Nigeria Communications Limited, iWayAfrica Nigeria, New Horizons Ltd, Teledom Group, Omatek Plc, Telecom Answers Associates (TAA) and endorsed by Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NiRA), Nigeria Internet Group (NIG), Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Association of Telecom Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) to name a few.

Meanwhile, the forum may have witnessed low attendance from African countries despite being held on the continent among other Least Developing Countries (LDCs) due to stakeholders inability to get visa with ease following insistence by Egyptian embassy officials that participants must have, at least, $3000 cash about N450,000, in their custody before they could be allowed entry into Egypt.

ITRealms Online also gathered that in some instances, the condition was between $3000 and $5000, depending on whether the applicant is of business delegates or mere stakeholders.

IGF was initiative in 2005 as the outcome of the two-phased World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), which held in Tunisia in 2005 after the first phase in Geneva was held in 2003, with mandate to convening a new forum for multi-stakeholder policy dialogue on the Internet Governance Forum (IGF).

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