A presentation given at the Opening Ceremony & Plenary session at APRICOT 2015 on Thursday, 5th March 2015.

1. David Lassner
University of Hawaii
<david@hawaii.edu>

2. EU ACP-Connect Pacific Study
Dany Vandromme, George McLaughlin
National Science Foundation
EAGER Award# 1239824
Network Startup Resource Center (NSRC)
Steve Huter, Dale Smith, Hervey Allen, Jon Brewer

3. Universities actively pioneered the deployment of IP networks around
the world
Original PACCOM project based at the University of Hawaii was the
vehicle for first international IP connections to academic networks in
AU, JP, NZ, KR…
The world noticed, Commercial Internet opportunities emerged
Many R&E networks sold and/or replaced by commercial services
In the US, by the mid-1990s universities realized something was
missing
Costs spiraling out of control
Limited development and deployment of new IP technologies
Connectivity via commercial ISPs hindered high-bandwidth academic
applications and innovations

4. In 1996 50+ U.S. universities created Internet2 as a
national Research & Education (R&E) network
APAN formally created in 1997
International R&E connections formalized with existing
and emerging R&E network partners
Example: Internet2 currently has 60+ international MOUs

5. Research and Education (R&E) networks directly connect colleges,
universities, research facilities, schools, libraries, museums and sometimes
hospitals
R&E network connections tend to be higher speed and deploy advanced
network capabilities earlier
In most countries, R&E network connections are in addition to standard
“commodity” Internet connectivity, not a replacement
R&E networks may also provide commodity services to members
Local exchange an important element of getting it right
R&E network connections enable advanced applications in research and
education that are not feasible over commodity connections
Higher/Tertiary education usually anchors R&E network initiatives
R&E networks can be developed at the state/regional, national and
international level

10. With substantial progress in Southeast Asia, South Asia,
Central Asia, Africa and a Caribbean R&E network going live:
The Pacific is now the last region of the world with no
regional initiative to develop Research & Education (R&E)
network capacity
But there’s hope!
U.S. NSF funded an exploratory project to identify needs and
opportunities for R&E networking in the Pacific
EC’s ACP Connect Study
Australia’s support for USP through AARNet

11. Highly
distributed
popula8on
Low
density,
Significant
distances,
Island
geographies,
including
domes8c
Weak
economies,
low
GDP
Limited
educa8onal
aGainment
Developing
and
variable
telecom
regulatory
environments
Limited
telecom
infrastructure
–
internal
and
external
Economics
and
geography
Limited
regional
“glue”
Mul8ple
poli8cal
affilia8ons
Lack
of
coordina8on
by
development
partners
Connec&vity
is
most
cri&cal
to
the
most
isolated
communi&es;
Unfortunately,
they
generally
have
the
most
limited
capacity.

13. Location
Area (sq
km)
Major
City/State
Population
(July 2012
est)
Internet
Usage (Jun
2012 est)
Population
Penetration
GDP (PPP) per
capita (ranking
out of 228 - as
of 2012)
School Life
Expectancy
(Yrs) REN
Cable
Landing To Active
Cook Islands 236 Rarotonga 19,937 6,000 30.1% 117 12 USPNet
Fiji 18,274 Suva 890,057 247,275 27.8% 158 13 USPNet
SCCN
ICN, Tonga
AUS & HI
Vanuatu
Tonga
Active
2013
2013
Kiribati 811 Tarawa 101,998 10,074 9.9% 145 12 USPNet
Marshall Islands 181 Majuro 68,480 7,260 10.6% 180 12 USPNet HANTRU-1
Guam &
Micronesia Active
Federated States of
Micronesia 702
Pohnpei,
Kosrae, Yap,
Chuuk 106,487 22,213 20.9% 187 -- HANTRU-1
Guam &
Marshall
Islands Active
Nauru 21 Yaren 9,378 480 5.1% 153 9
Niue 260 Alofi 1,556 1,100 70.7% 144 13 USPNet
Palau 459 Koror 21,032 6,360 30.2% 125 15 foreshadowedGuam 2014
Papua New Guinea 462,840 Port Moresby 6,310,129 135,000 2.1% 179 --
PNG-
ARNet
APNG-2
PPC-1
Australia &
Guam
Active
Active
Samoa 2,831 Apia 194,320 17,940 9.2% 140 12 USPNet SAS
Am Samoa
HI Active
Solomon Islands 28,896 Honiara 584,578 34,313 5.9% 170 9 USPNet SOC to PPC-1 Guam 2013
Tonga 747 Nuku'alofa 106,146 26,479 24.9% 133 14 USPNet Tonga-Fiji Fiji 2013
Tuvalu 26 Funafuti 10,619 4,300 40.5% 169 11 USPNet
Vanuatu 12,189 Port Villa 260,155 19,172 7.4% 156 10 USPNet ICN Fiji 2013
Norfolk Island (AUS) 36 Kingston 2,572 700 27.2% -- --
French Polynesia (FR) 4,167 Papeete 274,512 144,518 52.6% 67 -- Honotua HI Active
New Caledonia (FR) 18,575 Noumea 260,166 128,138 49.3% 81 -- Gondwana-1 AUS Active
Wallis and Futuna (FR) 142 Mata-Utu 15,850 1,337 8.4% 164 --
Tokelau (NZ) 12 -- 1,331 800 60.1% 218 12 USPNet
Pitcairn Islands (UK) 47 -- 54 -- -- -- --
American Samoa (US) 199 Pago Pago 54,947 3,040 5.5% 126 -- USPNet SAS
Samoa
HI Active
Guam (US) 544 Hagatna 159,914 90,000 56.3% 85 --
AAG, AJC
(SEA-US)
HANTRU-1,
CNMI
Active
Active
Active
Active
Northern Mariana Islands
(US) 464 Saipan 96,417 15,980 16.6% 97 --
PacificIslandNationsTerritories

14. Connect education & research communities
domestically and globally
Enable distance learning, training, access to content
and academic collaborations
Enable cyberinfrastructure-empowered research
Increasingly, support academic cloud services
Develop, deploy and transfer advanced network
applications and technologies
Enable new generation of R&E applications
Transfer technology, knowledge and experience for
broad commercial use

15. Expand
distance
learning
opportuni8es
and
improve
educa8onal
capacity
Educa8on,
Public
Health,
Health
Care,
Social
Work,
STEM,
Marine
Sciences,
Environmental
Studies,
Business…
Connect
indigenous
and
na8ve
communi8es
to
share
language,
culture,
prac8ces
and
wisdom
Access
to
global
digital
libraries
and
educa8onal
content
repositories
Enable
collabora8on
among
schools,
colleges,
universi8es,
NGOs
and
others
throughout
the
world
Telemedicine
&
Public
Health
outreach
and
research

16. Research has become a Team Sport
Research is increasingly interdisciplinary
Research is increasingly international
Research is increasingly data-driven and
computationally enabled
Research-based innovation and problem-solving
requires adapting to these shifts

17. Enable
strategic
research
using
modern
cyberinfrastructure
and
eScience
approaches:
Climate
Change
&
Sea
Level
Rise,
Ocean
Acidifica8on,
Coral
Reef
Survival,
Fisheries,
Island
Sustainability,
Indigenous
Culture
Preserva8on,
Sustainable
Agriculture,
Public
Health,
Bioinforma8cs
applica8ons
to
people
and
the
environment,
Earthquake
&
Tsunami
Modeling,
Disaster
Resilience,
Environmental
Studies…
WITH,
not
just
FOR
Pacific
Islanders

18. Develop
a
workforce
skilled
with
emerging
technologies
for
local
telecommunica8ons
and
ICT
industries
Enable
economic
development
for
informa8on
economies
through
new
ICT-­‐based
innova8ons
and
ini8a8ves
Build
apprecia8on
for
higher
speed
broadband
and
demand
for
higher
capacity
services
and
infrastructure

19. Established
1968
12
member
countries
Mul8
owned
and
mul8
funded
33million
Sq
Km
ocean
USP SERVING THE PACIFIC ISLAND COUNTRIES

20. Currently
available
fiber
Fiji
–
AU/US
(SCCN)
Guam
–
Hawaii
(AAG,
SEA-­‐US
pending)
Samoa
-­‐
American
Samoa
–
Hawaii
French
Polynesia
–
Hawaii
Micronesia
&
Marshalls
–
Guam
Northern
Marianas
–
Guam
New
Caledonia
–
AU
PNG
–
AU
&
Guam
Tonga
–
Fiji
Vanuatu
–
Fiji
Funded
fiber
projects
underway
Solomons
–
Guam
&
AU
(via
PIPE)
Fiber
projects
under
considera8on
Palau,
Yap
Satellite
Projects
O3B
Satellite
in
Produc8on
MEO
–
Low
Latency
(120
ms)
Ka
Band
–
Gigabit
speeds
Kacific
Planned
Retail
and
consumer
offerings
Highly
affordable
2017
Launch
&
RFS
AU/NZ
–
HI/
US
Fiber
Projects
Planned
Hawaiki
APX-­‐East
Both
offering
branching
units
for
Pacific
Islands

21. Southern
Cross
Cable
Network
/
AARNet
/
SX
TransPORT
partnership
IEEAF
/
Tyco-­‐TGN
Partnership
AMPATH
/
Global
Crossing
Partnership
Hawaiki
R&E
Offer
O3b
Research
Vessel
Offer

22. Directly
address
meaningful
na8onal
&
regional
problems
with
modern
prac8ces
in
educa8on,
health
and
research
Develop
the
next
genera8on
qualified
workforce
for
local
telecommunica8ons
and
ICT
industries
Generate
local
ideas
for
informa8on-­‐
and
communica8on-­‐based
ini8a8ves
that
may
become
commercial
customers
Demonstrate
u8lity
of
abundant
bandwidth
in
a
limited,
affordable,
safe
and
non-­‐precedent
sekng
environment
May
provide
an
opportunity
for
use
of
ini8al
“excess”
capacity

23. AU#
Fiji#
Guam#
Hawaii#
CNMI%
(Saipan)%
Palau%
Marshalls'
(Majuro)%
Pohnpei%
(FSM)%
Samoa%
Am.%%
Samoa%
Tonga'
Cook''
Islands'
French%%
Polynesia%
New%
Caledonia%
Vanuatu%
Solomons'Papua%
%New%
Guinea%
U.S.$
R&E$
Asia$
R&E$
NZ%
ExisDng%Fiber%
Planned%Fiber%
R&E%Fiber%ConnecDon%
O3b#
satellite'
USPNet#
satellite'
O3b%PotenDal%R&E%Sites%
Niue'
Tokelau'
Kiriba9%
Tuvalu'
Nauru'
No6onal#Pacific#Islands#Research#and#Educa6on#Network#(PIREN)%
Yap%
(FSM)%
Chuuk%
(FSM)%
USPNet'Campus'Loca9ons'
Kosrae%
(FSM)%
V3'–'26'Jan'2015'
Palmyra%

24. Univ of
French Polynesia
(Tahiti)
Univ of Hawaii &
Pacific Wave
via Honotua
Univ of
New Caledonia
AARNet via
Gondwana
Renater
(France)
Berkeley, NSF,
Stakeholders
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(FP)
Gump Station
(Moorea) Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(NC)

25. UFP (Tahiti)
FP R&E Hub
French Research
Centers
FP Schools
Univ of
Hawaii
AARNet (AU) &
REANNZ (NZ)
Renater
(France)
Internet2
(US)Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(FP)
Gump Station
(Moorea)
DR Fortress (HI)
via Honotua

26. American Samoa
Comm College
National University
of Samoa
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Am Samoa)
Univ of Hawaii &
Internet2/etc
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Samoa)

27. Guam
(UOG/GCC)
College of
Marshall Islands
(Majuro)
Univ of Hawaii,
Pacific Wave & Beyond
College of
Micronesia
(Pohnpei)
Northern Marianas
College (Saipan)
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Guam)
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Saipan)
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Pohnpei)
Commercial
Internet &
local peering
(Majuro)
USP Fiji
via AARNet
USP
Marshalls

29. Pacific
colleges
and
universi8es:
PPEC,
USP,
UPF,
UNC,
NUS,
PNG
unis…
Pacific
research
ins8tu8ons
and
their
owners/operators
PITA
members
–
Pacific
Telecom
Operators
&
Regulators
APAN,
PTC,
PacNOG,
PICISOC,
APNIC…
Owners
of
the
new
infrastructure
(Fiber
projects,
Satellite
systems)
Pacific
Island
na8onal
&
regional
governments,
leaders
&
consor8a
Exis8ng
R&E
Networks
in
the
U.S.,
Australia,
NZ,
France,
Japan:
Internet2,
AARNet,
REANNZ,
RENATER..
Na8onal
and
interna8onal
development
agencies:
ADB,
WorldBank,,
AUSAid,
EC
ACP,
JICA,
APT,
ITU,
UNESCO…
U.S.
Government:
NSF,
Interior,
State,
Educa8on,
Commerce,
USAID,
CDC,
NASA…