By Fiona Asona

The plan to set up a Government Internet Exchange point (GIXP) may look beneficial at face value, but is really either ill-informed or driven by hidden agenda’s, if the arguments in the media are anything to go by.

The new efforts by the Government is viewed by players in the industry as unnecessary and an inefficient use of its resources, at best, or an escapist approach to prioritising and tackling the key industry concerns by the Ministry, at worst.

Ranking top among the reasons given by the Ministry for the GIXP was the need to enhance network security among its peer agencies, and to mitigate against threats of hackers or data miners.

Amazingly, it is only this year that Kenya Internet Exchange point (KIXP) was ranked as the third fastest growing IXP globally, based on the amount of traffic it handles traffic. This is largely because of activities by its members to grow Internet use within the country and address the concerns of customers for a more secure online environment.

Overemphasise

Transacting business worth an estimated Sh30 billion on a daily basis, via the KIXP, the security of the infrastructure and its content can never be overemphasised.

And with no solid details on how the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) intends to set up security features, which will include deep packet inspection and a demonstration of the Government’s capacity to develop its own data encryption, most agree that security is easily a function of post infrastructure and human resource development.

This means that by having a peering point alone, the agencies will not be protected from any potential security problems if other aspects are not adequately addressed. Others have actually pointed out that the majority of security problems highlighted by the Government come from within an organisation, rather than from any external sources.

KIXP was established in 2000 by the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (Tespok) as a value-add service to its members, and is solely owned by Tespok. It operates as a licensed service and is the only Regulator Licensed Internet Exchange Point in Africa.

Prior to KIXP, which is Kenya’s pioneer Internet exchange point, all local traffic was exchanged in Europe and the US. Today, Internet users are benefiting not only from a more than tenfold reduced latencies (from over 1200ms to less than 100ms for local content), but also from a reduced monthly cost for Inter ISP transit from $3375 (slightly more than Sh250,000) to less than $200 (Sh15,000) for a 64Kbit/s local loop Circuit.

ISPs are also saving more because of the delayed need to upgrade international capacity links as well as improved local connectivity through fibre optic and high speed wireless (FSO) connectivity. As a result this has encouraged more local content as it became cheaper.

KIXP provides direct connections to members of the industry and organisations handling critical services that help members of the general public. Entities that are not licensed by the communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) must go through the existing operators in line with CCK regulations.

For instance, Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) through its online Customs Clearing System, also known as "Simba System", is using KIXP for efficient service delivery. The new Integrated Tax Management System (ITMS) is also supported by KIXP to reach the ordinary end user, who has to file returns online through their respective ISP.

To date there have been no complaints on the quality of service provided by the existing KIXP facility, leaving many wonders as to the drive behind the parallel IXP establishment.

Ensure stability

Over the past one year alone, the KIXP has registered more than 100 per cent growth with similar projections set for the coming years. To this end, the KIXP has upgraded its core infrastructure to meet the envisaged growth.

To further ensure stability of the facility, the KIXP has invested in a power-backup system capable of providing over 12 hours of uptime in the event of a sustained electrical mains power failure. The facility is currently handling traffic both on IPV6 and IPV4 internet communication protocols. One of the key advantages of peering with IPV6 at the KIXP of course being the security capabilities. IPv6 includes security features in its specifications, like information encryption and the authentication of the source of information.

The KIXP has further lead to product innovation with the emergence of free SMS content websites that are aimed at mass marketing through traffic generation and whose success is attributed to the low cost of local connectivity facilitated by the KIXP.

The KIXP has provided a platform where local entrepreneurs can monetise their local content as a catalyst to internet growth but can also be boldly touted as a best practice investment whose capacity and reliability can not be any close excuse for the establishment of the upcoming GIXP.

The writer is the Chief Executive of the Telecommunications Service Providers Association of Kenya (Tespok).