The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) is working to ensure the Internet ecosystem is greatly improved to benefit the populace.
Speaking in Kano, last week, when the exchange met stakeholders, the Chief Executive Officer, IXPN, Rudman Muhammed, explained that connecting to the exchange point had a huge role to play in the country’s ICT ecosystem and, ultimately, the digital economy agenda.
Talking to an audience that had representatives from the Nigerian Communications Commission, Vice-Chancellors, Provosts, Permanent Secretary of the Kano State Ministry of Science and Technology, Executive Secretary from Kano State Library, Muhammed said the role of IXPN was huge in pushing the economy.
According to Rudman, the role of the Internet and easy access to information by students in today’s world cannot be overstated, emphasising that IXPN was at the forefront of advocating for the localisation of educational research contents and other content in-country, with such content easily accessible through the increasingly robust IXPN infrastructure across Nigeria.
“This will significantly reduce capital flight, improve latency, reduce the risk of such traffic being hijacked, and improve resiliency.
“We believe that the fast-depleting IPV4 resources at AfriNIC underline the need for Higher Educational Institutions to acquire their IP resources and peer with the eXchange point, thereby providing access to their students to contents currently available through the IXPN,” he said.
He also assured that the Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria was ready to provide the necessary support to any educational institution that wishes to acquire IP resources and connect to the eXchange point.
The workshop in Kano came weeks after IXPN engaged 21 participants from nine network operators in Lagos in what it described as value-added service to its members through capacity building.
Rudman, at the two-day training programme held at the IXPN Academy located at its corporate headquarters in Lagos, explained the rudiments of BGP to her members, saying Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a gateway protocol that enables the internet to exchange routing information between autonomous systems (AS).
“The idea of today’s training is to empower members of the Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) with the rudiments and workings of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), which is important to us as a one-stop peering point for service and content providers,” he said.
The Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) announced earlier this year that it will begin capacity building for its members across the country, to empower them on current technology trends and best practices, particularly as it relates to connectivity to the eXchange Point.
The Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) is currently the Regional Internet Exchange Point (RIXP) for West Africa, with over eighty (85) active networks interconnected, including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, and all Nigerian Mobile Network Operators (MNOs).
