Virtual Peering Series – Central Asia

Central Asia has some of the highest connectivity costs in the world, yet few IXPs exist to enable traffic to be exchanged locally between ISPs and which can attract major content providers to serve their customers.

The Internet Society, RIPE NCC, and Euro-IX organized a series of online events throughout 2021 to raise awareness of the benefits of peering and encourage the development of Internet Exchange Points (IXPs) in the region.

This series introduced the benefits of IXPs; brought together network operators, content providers, and DNS operators who are interested in improving the Internet in their countries and localities; and developed plans for establishing and/or operating an IXP. It also discussed IXP best practices, including technical solutions as well as hosting, financing, and staff resourcing, with the aim of developing suitable approaches for local circumstances.

Background

Because Central Asian countries are landlocked, they are almost completely reliant on transit through other countries for their wider Internet connectivity. This, combined with limited fiber routes through the region and political difficulties in some neighbouring countries, means that Internet access costs remain amongst the highest in the world – both in actual and relative terms. Furthermore, a lack of interconnectivity between local ISPs means that local traffic often has to be exchanged over expensive long-haul connections, which also introduces unnecessary delays in data transmission.

Although the number of Internet users in Kazakhstan is quite high (at over 75%) and continues to grow in Kyrgyzstan and more recently Uzbekistan, Internet performance (i.e., bandwidth and latency) is still lagging behind other parts of the world, especially outside of the major cities. In particular, this restricts the practicability of applications such streaming media and videoconferencing, and discourages content providers from establishing themselves locally due to the poor returns on investment. This in turn limits economic development, online education, and social interaction, which have become especially important during the recent COVID-19 pandemic.

A child holding a phone and standing in the valley

What Is an IXP and Why Are They Important?

An IXP is a physical and usually neutral location where different IP networks meet to exchange local traffic via a switch. It allows them to peer with each other for the purposes of exchanging traffic on a settlement free (i.e., no-cost) basis. There are more than 900 IXPs located around the world, and they are critical to the functioning of the Internet.

Setting up an IXP can be both simple and cheap, typically only requiring a Layer-2 switch at the outset. However, the ability to exchange traffic locally reduces the need for long-haul traffic, whilst allowing bandwidth to be increased and latency to be reduced. This brings down costs whilst improving quality-of-service for all operators, as well as improving the resilience of the local Internet.

IXPs can also attract Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) and Cloud Providers who benefit from better local connectivity. This also provides added value for ISPs and their customers. In addition, an IXP is an ideal location for Root DNS and NTP servers, which again can improve the quality of the local Internet, encouraging investment in data centers where the IXP is often located.

There are many benefits when operators collaborate to establish and operate an IXP, even where they are normally in competition with each other. Better connectivity and better services will generate customer growth, which will both improve ISP revenues and generate overall benefits for local and national economies.

Find Out More about IXPs

Who Should Attend the Events and What Are the Goals?

The Virtual Peering Series was open to all network operators, content providers, government, academic and other public institutions, as well as industry associations primarily in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan (although others with an interest in the region were also welcomed).

We were looking to bring together operators who might be interested in establishing IXPs and peering with each other, discuss the local technical and regulatory issues, and identify the most effective way to support the establishment and development of new and existing IXPs. This support can include provision of equipment, capacity building, as well as encouraging regulatory best practices.

Previous Events

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© Nyani Quarmyne