1. Caribbean Telecommunications
Union
Internet Governance Forum
September 5 – 6, 2005
Georgetown Guyana
Challenges of the Internet
Prepared by Russell Davis
Director Systems Engineering - GT&T
email: syseng@gtt.co.gy 1
2. Introduction
For the purposes of context and perspective, a
brief overview of the Guyana Telephone &
Telegraph’s (GT&T’s) development of and
positioning in Internet deployment in Guyana is
necessary. This follows below since this has
direct bearing on topics that will be discussed in
this presentation, in keeping with the theme of
this Forum - Internet Governance.
2
3. GT&T is the current Incumbent fixed voice and
International Connectivity Operator in Guyana by
virtue of an agreement signed between the
Government of Guyana and Atlantic Tele-
Network in June 1990. This agreement gave
GT&T an exclusive license in the provision of
the above offerings for a period of 20 years [with
the option of renewal for another 20 years].
3
4. GT&T considers Guyana’s connection to the
Internet to be an aspect of International
Connectivity covered under its License. As can
be imagined, this is a controversial and
contested National Issue. Notwithstanding this,
there are several resellers of Internet access
who do not utilize GT&T’s International
backbone for connection to the Internet. And,
needless to say, these operators pose a
challenge for the company. Note however, that
under the current laws, these are all illegal
operations. For this reason, the competitive
factors to GT&T associated with these players’
activities will not be directly addresed in this
presentation.
4
5. GT&T’s Internet Gateway was installed in
December 1996. Initial connection to the
Internet backbone was via a 256K satellite
link. The Network was designed to
provide 64/128K leased line links to ISPs
and corporate clients.
The First ISP was connected in January
1997.
5
6. Since then, the network has grown to meet
demands. Currently, GT&T has a capacity
of 28Mb/s Symmetrical Internet backbone
connectivity via Americas 11 submarine
fibre optic network with 9Mb/s
Asymmetrical Internet backbone
connectivity via satellite for redundancy.
6
7. Current Service Offerings: Bandwidth Resale to
5 ISPs, Corporate and Friends and Family
Dialup, Hosted Mail Service, DSL , Dedicated
Lease CIR service using DSL line access and
National Frame Relay Network and Dedicated
IP Services, Mobile Internet access via GPRS
network.
A high level overview of our existing Internet
system architecture is displayed in Figure #1
and existing rates for referred services is
displayed in the following tables. All prices
quoted are subject to commercial negotiations.
7
12. Schedule 1.1: Corporate Own Use Price List
With 25% Satellite Restoration (US$/Month)
Contract Duration Bandwidth
28.8 Kbps 64 Kbps 128 Kbps 256 Kbps 384 Kbps 512 Kbps
1 Year
Installation 250 1,100 1,550 2,530 2,975 3,500
Monthly Rental 245 1,190 2,142 3,808 5,312 6,300
Service Deposit 245 1,190 2,142 3,808 5,312 6,300
2 Years
Installation 250 1,100 1,550 2,530 2,975 3,500
Monthly Rental 200 1,063 1,913 3,264 4,900 5,990
Service Deposit 200 1,063 1,913 3,264 4,900 5,990
3 Year
Installation 250 1,100 1,550 2,530 2,975 3,500
Monthly Rental 120 850 1,530 2,800 4,095 5,200
Service Deposit 120 850 1,530 2,800 4,095 5,200
Short Term
Installation 250 1,100 1,700 2,530 3,500 3,500
Monthly Rental 325 1,200 2,300 3,912 5,400 6,500
Service Deposit 325 1,200 2,300 3,912 5,400 6,500
12
13. Schedule 1.1: Corporate Own Use Price List
Without Satellite Restoration (US$/Month)
Contract Duration Bandwidth
28.8 Kbps 64 Kbps 128 Kbps 256 Kbps 384 Kbps 512 Kbps
1 Year
Installation 290 1,190 1,700 2,830 3,100 3,700
Monthly Rental 180 900 1,700 3,200 5,000 5,950
Service Deposit 180 900 1,700 3,200 5,000 5,950
2 Years
Installation 290 1,190 1,700 2,830 3,100 3,700
Monthly Rental 150 825 1,590 2,940 4,530 5,300
Service Deposit 150 825 1,590 2,940 4,530 5,300
3 Year
Installation 290 1,190 1,700 2,830 3,100 3,700
Monthly Rental 80 750 1,350 2,400 3,700 4,850
Service Deposit 80 750 1,350 2,400 3,700 4,850
Short Term
Installation 290 1,190 1,700 2,830 3,100 3,700
Monthly Rental 260 945 1,750 3,300 5,125 6,000
Service Deposit 260 945 1,750 3,300 5,125 6,000
13
14. •GT&T’s Internet Governance
and Administration Issues.
IP addressing ,allocation and Domain Name
Management.
System Administration and Bandwidth
Management.
Quality of Service Maintenance
Demand Forecasting and Facilities’
Provisioning.
Cost Recovery and Revenue
Regulatory and Policy Environment.
Security
14
15. IP addressing, allocation and
Domain Name Management.
Currently, GT&T issues blocks of Public IP
addresses to its ISPs and clients per service
offerings description. This allocation essentially
is based on IP ranges ( IPv4- address
numbering protocol) obtained from our Internet
backbone service providers.Said addresses are
used internally for our DSL, CIR and dialup
offerings.
GT&T utilizes Private IP addresses for corporate
networking and Operational and Maintenance
LANs.
15
16. There is no single National or Statutory
entity that governs or controls Public IP
addressing in Guyana
16
17. The Public IP addressing methodology used by
GT&T is based on allocation of blocks of 30
usable addresses for every E1 of dialup capacity
requested by ISPs. The ISPs are free to allocate
for their internal networks by use of subnet
masking techniques. In addition, for our
Corporate Dedicated Service offerings, blocks of
16 IP addresses are assigned.
17
18. • Domain Name Management is not practiced by
GT&T except for GT&T’s requests to Domain
Name Registrar for domain names for GT&T’s
own use (gtt.co.gy, gol.net.gy, cellinkgy.com).
There is an interesting aspect to the .gy domain
name which is currently administered in Puerto
Rico as opposed to being under national
administrative control. This issue continues to
engage the attention of the Government of
Guyana and the University of Guyana the latter
is currently considered to be the appropriate
administrative entity for this aspect of national
Internet administration. GT& T supports these
efforts.
• GT&T also utilizes the services of LACNIC (Latin
American and Caribbean Internet Addresses
Registry ) for our system ASN or Autonomous
System Number. 18
19. System Administration.
Consistent with network topology in Figure # 1,
our network administration utilizes UNIX based
Operations Support Systems (OSS)
19
20. Based on our primary role as a Bandwidth
Reseller, the majority of System Administrative
issues faced by GT&T occurs in the
maintenance and management of physical
transmission links to the end users who typically
are tasked with the complexities of multiple
customer support, provisioning and end-user
device support for their clients. However, GT&T
has the capability to implement load balancing
and MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) for
ISPs with multiple connections to our backbone.
The latter enables greater flexibility based on its
characteristics of relatively high levels of
integration of routing and switching in addition to
Quality of Service support and Traffic
engineering.
20
21. Most difficulties occur in initial system turn-
up and configuration testing, with the
primary Operational problems occurring in
the access management and maintenance
arena per Service Level Agreements
(appendix I ) to our clients.
21
22. Quality of Service (QOS) and
Bandwidth Management.
QOS is monitored on a daily basis with focus on
access testing, packet loss and latency
monitoring .
A copy of existing ISP Service Level
Agreements is contained in appendix I
Network Architecture illustrates the level of
equipment redundancy implemented at the
Network Core.
22
23. The satellite redundancy is a thorny Operational issue
since undoubtedly fibre optic is the transmission
medium of choice for any form of data communication
due to the elimination the latency (delay) associated
with extra terrestrial transmission and therefore the
level of satellite redundancy is a constantly debated
issue which is highlighted on every occasion that a
fibre optic disruption impacting Americas 11 occurs. It
is simply not cost effective or Operationally sound to
maintain 100% satellite redundancy network primarily
due to satellite bandwidth charges and earth station
equipment provisioning and maintenance
requirements. This conclusion is based on arguments
of effective asset management and maintenance.
23
24. Bandwidth management is based on ensuring
that CIR clients receive the bandwidth per SLA
and that an acceptable bandwidth/user ratio is
maintained for non CIR clients to minimize over-
subscription. It should be noted that most ISPs
who receive service from GT&T are utilizing
bandwidth shaping techniques which we have
observed has resulted in more efficient
bandwidth distribution to their clients
24
25. Demand Forecasting and
Facilities Provisioning
Based on current service offerings, demand
forecasting is essentially driven by ISP
bandwidth utilization measures and projections
and rapid DSL growth.
25
26. This cycle addresses increases in and
equipment provisioning for International
backbone connectivity including satellite
redundancy, network core capacity ( routers and
Ethernet interfaces) and access network
improvements ,including reduction in local
copper loop lengths for increased bandwidth
capability and use of fibre optic cable and
wireless last mile access solutions as the client
requirements may dictate.
26
27. Since demand forecasting is directly
correlated to market conditions, Internet
access ubiquity or lack thereof is a
mitigating factor to aggressive and rapid
facilities increases by GT&T. This point will
be expanded upon in successive slides.
27
28. Cost Recovery and Return on
Investment.
In Guyana, the best estimates are Personal
Computer penetration rates and Internet user
statistics are as illustrated below with similar
data on a sample of other Caribbean countries.
For comparison extra regional measures are
also presented. Unfortunately, none of the
referred databases are Caribbean in origin and
are somewhat dated.
28
29. In addition, the Internet use statistics are
inherently difficult to accurately quantify since
there are difficulties in ascertaining subscriber
bases especially due to the use of the internet at
Internet cafés, at schools and at the workplace.
Statistics are not based on precise methodology.
However, the data is indicative of a low
penetration and usage ratio which I suspect has
not doubled as of time of writing.
29
30. Communications and Connectness 2000
Jamaica
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 46.58
Internet users 80000
Barbados
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 82.24
Internet users 10000
Guyana
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 25.55
Internet users 4000
University of California, Santa Cruz -
UC Atlas of Global Inequality 30
31. Trinidad & Tobago
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 61.8
Internet users 100000
Grenada
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 127.07
Internet users 4113
St Lucia
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 141.03
Internet users
St Vincent & the Grenadines
Personal computers (per 1,000 people) 105.79
Internet users 3500
University of California, Santa Cruz -
UC Atlas of Global Inequality 31
32. Rank Country Internet users Date of Information
1 World 604,111,719
2 European Union 206,032,067 2004
3 United States 159,000,000 2002
4 China 94,000,000 2004
7 Korea, South 29,220,000 2003
68 Jamaica 600,000 2002
109 Trinidad and Tobago 138,000 2002
111 Guyana 125,000 2002
118 Barbados 100,000 2003
185 Antigua & Barbuda 10,000 2002
CIA - World Factbook 2005 32
37. In Guyana, dial up access to the Internet
using GT&T’s fixed network is toll free by
order of the Regulator.
37
38. Guyana, with its low population density, large
and geographically challenging terrain,
nationally limited power and domestic
transportation infrastructure place an onerous
financial burden on an Operator with compliance
standards of International QOS including
reliability to unilaterally deploy Internet access
nodes in rural areas, since significant resource
assistance including some cost subsidization to
both the Operator and communities’ from
relevant stakeholders would be a pre-requisite
for implementation viability and sustainability.
38
39. GT&T is a limited player in the ISP market as the
revenues derived from our corporate clients,
DSL etc are currently an insignificant % of
revenues derived from our current Internet
service offerings. It must be noted that our initial
decision to defer from direct competition with
ISPs is one which was based on stimulating
local entrepreneurs, but is inconsistent with the
global business practices of the majority of
incumbent operators. It is sufficient to state that
this market entry deferral is the subject of
constant internal debate ,but remains our
current policy.
39
40. Mobile devices which facilitate Internet access
via our GPRS network are costly in a country
with < USD 4,000 Per capita income levels. See
below.
Rank 146 Guyana $3,800 2004 est.
(CIA World Factbook 2005)
The above represents a paradigm in which
inevitably the costs of Internet bandwidth will be
significant and apart from increasing our access
capability in a national fashion via DSL, the
options for stimulation of increased domestic
Internet usage in the absence of existing
strategic alliances in the Private sector e.g.
bundled offerings which include access devices
at low cost to consumers and Government are
limited or non-existent. The reality is that access
ubiquity increases usage which reduces costs
per end users. 40
41. Regulatory and Policy
Environment
Guyana’s Regulatory and Policy Environment as
it relates to the Internet can be described as
being inadequate for the comprehensive yet
flexible framework required for effective and
progressive Internet Governance.
41
42. Indeed, this conference and its objectives are
extremely relevant since it can be categorically
stated that the entire Caribbean region has yet
to develop any standardized and transparent
policy mechanisms that can sufficiently address
the ever evolving Internet, specifically
addressing the multiplicity of user requirements,
the reality of copyright and intellectual property
protection, fraudulent activity including identity
theft, privacy and security including National
Security implications, threats to Incumbent
Telecommunication’s Providers due to PSTN
bypass and required infrastructural and network
change-out which is the inevitable result of the
growth of the Internet .
42
43. The Internet’s byproduct of IP telephony and the
growth of broadband essentially blur the
distinctions amongst traditional telephone
companies, ISPs, cableTV providers, software
developers (re: Microsoft’s recent acquisition of
Teleo, Vonage, google and multiple other
players ) which is one component of network
convergence and Next Generation Networks
(NGNs). Educational and health care benefits
that are directly linked to the Internet and access
to same by our citizens, businesses,
administrative and state entities. These are all
significant issues for Operators, Regulators and
Policy –Makers.
43
44. Per below extract, the entire global
community is at the stage where the
Internet has become part of all spheres of
domestic, business and National
administrative activity.
44
46. In light of above, the Guyanese environment in
which there are views expressed that the
technologically driven Internet is a form of
natural and national resource as evidenced by
toll free dial up access and prohibiting of
charges to send email to the mobile network is
symptomatic of the scope of the problem. While
this may not be applicable to all Caricom
countries, one can make a logical conclusion
that Guyana’s status is reflective of a larger
region-wide problem.
46
47. The Guyana operating environment is
characterized by great difficulty in ascertaining
what rules govern the practices of alternate
Internet providers e.g. What QOS are they
adhering to? What statutes allow them them to
offer International voice? What are their Service
Obligations? Can they be prosecuted for
unauthorized PSTN connections? Are they
licensed and if so, how? Are they taxed, based
on usage and customer base? What are their
obligations when offering voice for emergency
911 type calls? Is this a case in which well
intentioned efforts to foster growth in ICT have
created an enabling environment of a cyber wild
west that may only benefit profiteers and
speculators whose interests may not coincide
with the National Interest?
47
48. Security
Since the Internet is essentially a global
multimedia network, it is inherently insecure or
susceptible to penetration for disruptive and
destructive purposes. Increasing use for
commerce and sensitive transactions coupled
with increased personal data transiting the
medium , increases the risk and motivation for
the anti-social or criminally intent. All parties
from the domestic user to the Network
Administrators face an almost daily battle in
ensuring the sanctity of their Internet Use.
48
49. GT&T faces Denial of Service Attacks to our
Network which are generally isolated by
destination
GT&T has had fortunately to date not suffered
virus attacks aka Trojan Horses and incidents of
worms on the backbone. However, our
customers have suffered infections from worms
and viruses, the elimination of which we assist
with on a case by case basis including IP
address blocking if necessary as a last resort.
49
50. GT&T currently proactively uses remotely
hosted services which identify blacklisted
sites, Spam sources in addition to Firewall
and virus blockers for our mail servers.
GT&T has found that our use of UNIX
based Operating systems is more resilient
to penetration than Windows based
applications.
50
51. GT&T cooperates by isolating, warning and if
necessarily blocking IP addresses once
notification and evidence is supplied of
Copyright infringements transiting our network.
The recent emergence of problematic and
potential for criminal intents generated via
emails sent via SMS to mobile network users is
an issue under serious scrutiny.
51
52. Multimedia platforms that can send images from
the mobile network via the Internet are
anticipated to pose privacy violation issues in the
near future.
The above two issues are but examples of the
problems that will be faced as mobile networks
increasingly become enabled to interact with the
Internet as part of the convergence reality i.e an
all IP based infrastructure which is largely driven
by equipment manufacturers. A primary issue
will be real time tracking and positive
identification of criminally minded,
technologically savvy perpetrators using the
convergence of the Internet coupled with mobile
access to engage in socially negative activities.
This also has National Security implications. 52
53. General Rules of security involve management of
physical access to facilities*, rigid management of
passwords*, a hierarchical system of access
authorization*, reliable systems for user
authentication*, deployment of systems such as
Intrusion Detector Systems (IDS), encryption
techniques, however, the bottom line is that rigid
monitoring by Network Administrators in addition to
robust and duplicated network protection based on
network architecture is essential since there are
constant efforts by highly intelligent and skilled
operatives reinforced by powerful processing
capability who view the Internet as means to probe
and penetrate networks based on their competence
in identifying vulnerabilities. This is an ongoing battle
See below extracted from the ITU which illustrates a
global perspective on Spam and Internet security.
* Security Approach for OSS Systems -
Dittberner Associates Inc. 53
55. Summary and Conclusion
I have attempted to highlight issues of
relevance to the conference theme [Internet
Governance] from a GT&T perspective. I
believe that GT&T’s experience can prove
useful in pursuit of our collective objective of
assisting policy makers and other stakeholders
to craft harmonized guidelines for Internet
Governance in our region. What we need
urgently, is a governance regime that is
acceptable to all stakeholders.
55
56. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
Some core issues and questions that should
inform the dialogue on governance are:
i. Can the Internet actually be governed? If so,
should Governance be limited to centralized
IP addressing and allocation, or should it be
extended to cover issues such as content
restrictions based on intrusive monitoring by
private and/or state entities?
ii. Do we have database or body that actually
collates Internet use and PC (or access
device) penetration on a per country basis? Is
there a role for Caricom here?
56
57. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
iii. What are the implications for individuals rights
of privacy and access to information?
iv. What would be the ideal legal framework for
providers to operate in to ensure proper
apportionment of liability for criminal use of
facilities without knowledge of the registered
owner/operator?
v. Are there currently any applicable liability laws
in the region?
57
58. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
vi. Do Operators practice self Governance? [e.g.
blocking of “objectionable sites.”] And, who
decides what is “objectionable?”
vii. How does the CSME plan to deal with issues
of Internet Governance? Note: The Internet
adds a new dimension to the concept of
movement of persons and skills.
58
59. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
viii. Are there common Internet Governance
practices that can be enforced including
domain name management and regional IP
registrar services anticipated in Caricom? If so,
what body, how constituted? Have we
assessed either as independent nation states
or collectively, potential inter-operability issues
of IPv6? Is any technical standardization in the
region envisaged?
ix. Do we have a common regional voice at
ICANN?
x. What are the National and Regional Security
requirements and/or objectives that must be
factored into any Internet Governance regime?
59
60. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
xi. What is the regulatory framework that would govern IP
based triple play offerings (voice, video and
data)?This is applicable in the context of both fixed
and mobile delivery, the latter is based on the 3G
migration market drivers.
xii. Will ISPs offering voice be regulated under the same
service obligations and consumer protections as
traditional telcos? In theory, it is a relatively simple
technical matter for an ISP to develop (including
independent access network) to become a parallel
provider offering voice with PSTN access.
60
61. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
xiii. Will national numbering blocks be assigned to
ISPs to offer Vonage type services?
xiv. What would be the policy on emergency calls
and prioritization in a packetized environment?
Should they be allowed PSTN interconnect via
legislation or via commercially negotiated and
private interconnection agreements?
xv. How are WLAN offerings e.g Wi-Fi (IEEE
802.11), and WiMax (IEEE 802.16) going to
be administered since they essentially will
afford users particularly mobile anywhere ,
broadband connectivity with consequential
potential triple play applications? Should and
would they be regulated? Is there an existing
framework that can facilitate this to the 61
satisfaction of all stakeholders?
62. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
xvi. Is access ubiquity across the region sufficient to
warrant significant focus on Internet Governance in
a region wide fashion at this juncture? In other
words, is the development of an extensive
Governance regime merited, given our limited
resources? Should not access be given higher
priority? I refer to below extract from the Millennium
Development Goals i.e Goal 8:Develop a global
partnership for development, ‘In cooperation with
the private sector, make available the benefits
of new technologies—especially information
and communications technologies’. Without
fear of contradiction, all Caricom countries surely
are signatories.
62
63. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
xvii. The question that must be asked is
where are we really including policy and
national budgetary allocations on region-
wide basis with regards to the target
statistics of “Internet access rate defined
as those with easy access to the Internet
of > 50%?” See below extract.
63
65. Summary and Conclusion (cont’d)
xviii. See
below extract from the ITU world
summit on the information society with
regards to a summation of key Internet
Governance Issues.
65
67. Acknowledgements
Mr. Gene Evelyn – Director Rate Making GT&T
Mr. Ganesh Sharma – System Admin Data Network Services GT&T
Mr. Ian McFarlane – Engineer Planning – Systems Engineering GT&T
Mr. Lloyd Blackett – Engineer International Transmission GT&T
67
