ALL MEMBERS MEETING FOR UIXP HELD ON 2ND MAY
2002
VENUE: UCC Board Room,
Communications House
TIME: 10.25 am to 12.00
noon
AGENDA
1.
Tour of the Exchange Point
2.
Update report
3.
AS Numbers, BGP readiness
4.
The Business Plan, and Revenue,
5. Connectivity i.e Frame
Relay, ISDN, ISM band 2.4 GHz wireless
And any other matter that might come
up.
MEMBERS PRESENT
1.
Maurice Barigye Afsat
Communications (U) Ltd.
2.
Were Ibrahim Afsat
Communications (U) Ltd.
3.
Edward Nsubuga Uganda
Telecom Ltd.
4.
Lunghabo James
Linux Solutions
5.
Daniel Stern Uganda
Connect
6. Andrew Gidoi
Uganda Telecom Ltd.
7. Charles Musisi
CFI
8. Samalie Sempebwa
UiXP
9. Luke Kyohere
UiXP
Absent with Apologies:
1. Hope Mugagga
Uganda Connect
2. Badru Ntege
Sanyutel
Tour of the Exchange
Point
The tour of the Exchange Point was done at the end of the
meeting rather than at the begging to save on time. Members were taken round and
briefed on the set up.
Update report
The agenda for this meeting was based on issues raised in
the report update distributed to members at start of the
meeting.
Issues arising out of the report triggered contribution
from members present, and these are highlights:
iX LAN:
On why an
office LAN as well as the IXP backbone was necessary, and on the costs involved
(as seen in financial statement), and why the voluntary approach to build the
LAN wasn’t used.
Members were informed that, the voluntary approach, while
desirable required coordination to get the right mixture of skills and
availability of person, which inevitably needed time coordination. That balanced
against the desire to ensure quality of workmanship weighed against the labour
cost component, In the interest of time, coupled by the minimal labour component
on the overall quotation, This was
seen to be due to time constraints and the need to have a more professional
setup, the job was given to a vendor. However, it was agreed that the spirit of
voluntarism and cooperation should be kept alive and made use of as much as
possible in future.
AS Numbers
Members were informed about the importance of AS Numbers
and requested to help in any way they can with acquiring them. It was agreed
that applying for them as a block was more likely to yield results due to the
stringent criteria required in granting them, which individual ISPs cannot meet
on their own.
Border Gateway Protocol
(BGP)
Members were made aware of an offer for training from
Brian Longwe from Nairobi, and urged to be a part of it when it’s undertaken. It
was also agreed that word about the need for training should be passed around in
friendly international circles with a view of getting more of our technical people
trained i.e AfNOG, Cisco Academy etc... All members with any BGP knowledge were
also urged be volunteer to help.
Business Plan and
Revenue
Payment of rent was questioned and whether free office
space could not have been secured
free of charge. Members were briefed about how the decision on the current
premises reached, being the outcome of a process that involved evaluating all
possible locations. The Communication House location was chosen over others as
neutral location, free of any perceived connection to any operator, and that UCC could be turned to provide
waiver on rent unlike other locations.
The flat subscription fee was also discussed and it was
proposed that be reviewed periodically to reflect actual benefit to individual
member as a factor of cost. For now, simple flat fee tariff will stay.
Connectivity
Members were briefed about the major connectivity methods
being considered and progress made in getting them to the IXP. It was agreed
that while members were free to select a method of their choice, they will have
an obligation to other peers to ensure that their links are good. Thus only good
and reliable links will be acceptable.
AOB
Among other business, the issue of access to cheap
Routers was discussed . It was proposed that every member who will peer at the
IXP have own Router at the IXP premises. It was suggested that Cisco be
approached to purchase, through their Channels, inexpensive Routers as a gesture
of support to our efforts.
With no other business to discuss, the meeting was closed
at 12 noon.
· Copies of the financial statement, company brochure, update report and business plan distributed at this meeting can be found on the UiXP web site.
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