ITU Telecom World discusses what it will take to lower international backhaul prices


Posted on December 3, 2014  /  1 Comments

In a packed session chaired by LIRNEasia’s Abu Saeed Khan, the next steps in improving international backhaul will be discussed.

Affordable International Backhaul
Monday, December 08, 2014, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM, Hospitality Lounge 7
Many countries around the world lack affordable backhaul and cross-border networks that enable local networks to connect to the wider internet. There is still insufficient competition in some regions to facilitate competitive pricing and to allow for international Internet traffic backhaul. The availability of submarine fibre technology has brought prices down in coastal countries where competitive operators are able to bring this capacity to the market. The challenges can be greater for landlocked countries without co-operative neighbours for access to landing stations and other necessary infrastructure. There are also challenges in linking availablecapacity to internet exchange points (IXPs), either because they do not exist or because authorities impose restrictive regulation in areas such as gateways to international facilities, the use of alternative networks and dark fibre, or competitive backhaul from satellite and submarine-cable landing stations. Countries could greatly improve the functioning of their markets by removing specific licences for specific functions in the backhaul market, such as regional, national and international licences and licences for landing stations.

Moderator
Mr Abu Saeed Khan, Senior Policy Fellow, LIRNEasia, Bangladesh
Panellists
Mr Steve Collar, Chief Executive Officer, O3b Networks, Netherlands
Mr Zaur A. Hasanov, Director, Trans-Eurasian Information Super Highway Project, Azerbaijan
Mr Ahmed Mekky, Chief Executive Officer, Gulf Bridge International, Qatar
Mr Doug Madory, Director of Internet Analysis, Dyn Research, United Kingdom
Mr Siddhartha Raja, Policy Specialist, The World Bank, India
Mr Khaled Naguib Sedrak, CEO and Founder, NxtVn, Netherlands

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