[afnog] Africa Peering and Interconnection Forum - Announcement

[Michuki Mwangi]

<FYI>

INTERNET SOCIETY FORUM TO ENABLE AFRICAN INTERNET LEADERS UNLOCK THE
CONTINENT'S POTENTIAL

New regional community to address key interconnection opportunities and
challenges in Africa

[Nairobi, Kenya, 15 June 2010] - The Internet Society (ISOC), today
announced the launch of the African Peering and Interconnection Forum
(AfPIF), established to help address the operational, regulatory, and
business challenges facing the growing African Internet industry.

Organized by the Internet Society, in partnership with the
Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (TESPOK), the
inaugural meeting of the forum, entitled "Unlocking Africa's Regional
Interconnection", will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, from 11-12 August 2010
and is expected to attract some of Africa's key business leaders,
technical experts, policy makers, and infrastructure builders. Until
now, Internet growth in the region has been slow, hampered by poor
infrastructure and low levels of investment. But the signs of change are
now on the horizon.

"To date, gradual, ongoing policy and regulatory changes have made a
positive impact on the region, where we are seeing many new
opportunities for regional and global connectivity," said Michuki
Mwangi, Regional Development Manager for Africa at the Internet Society,
and recipient of the 2010 African Network Operators Group (AfNOG)
Network Information Infrastructure award.

"Supporting the recent momentum in Africa by facilitating these positive
discussions plays a vital role in delivering against one of the Internet
Society's key strategic initiatives; enabling access in emerging
markets," added Mwangi. "Africa has also seen major investments in
submarine cables, terrestrial fiber infrastructures, and mobile and
wireless data technologies, all of which are addressing some of the
challenges that previously restricted Internet growth in the region."

Critically, the new infrastructure developments create the opportunity
for much higher levels of local and regional interconnection. This
exerts a multiplier effect on the economic and technical performance of
regional networks, as well as opening the door to higher levels of local
content production, all of which are necessary elements in enabling
Internet access to Africans across the continent.

The African Peering and Interconnection Forum will create a regional
community to address the key cross-border Interconnection opportunities
and challenges in Africa and discuss global and regional insights on
maximizing regional development.

In addition to local and regional support provided by TESPOK, the event
has received international sponsorship from expert organisations
including the Amsterdam Internet Exchange (AMS-IX), the Deutscher
Commercial Internet Exchange (DE-CIX), the German Internet exchange, and
Netnod, the Swedish Internet exchange provider,

For more information, details about sponsorship opportunities, and to
register for this event, see:

https://www.isoc.org/isoc/conferences/africanforum2010/

About the Internet Society
The Internet Society (ISOC) is a non-profit organization founded in 1992
to provide leadership in Internet related standards, education, and
policy. ISOC is the organizational home of the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF), the Internet's premier technical standards body. With
offices in Washington, D.C., and Geneva, Switzerland, it is dedicated to
ensuring the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet for
the benefit of people throughout the world. For more information see:
http://InternetSociety.org

Media contact
Greg Wood
wood at isoc.org
+1-703-439-2145