SECOND LATIN AMERICAN REGIONAL NAP (IX Internet Exchange) MEETING

NAPs, Network Access Points, also known as IXs, or Internet Exchanges are Internet network facilities where independent Internet Service Providers (ISPs) interconnect their networks to exchange internet traffic (“peering”). These facilities have been built all over the world under different institutional and technical/operational schemes, both for profit or not, yet all serving the essential network function of efficiently routing regional traffic between ISPs.

The Second Latin American Regional Internet Exchange Meeting will take place in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on August 21st., at the Four Seasons Hotel. The event is being organized by CABASE (www.cabase.org.ar), the Argentine Internet Services Industry Association, which operates NAP CABASE, Argentina’s Internet exchange, the first cooperative ISP IX to be implemented in Latin America.

IX operators, ISPs, Telecommunications professionals and other industry experts from Latin America and other regions, have been invited to participate. The objective of the meeting will be to update progress of IXs in Latin America, define models for the deployment of additional IXs in the region and discuss alternatives that can lead to improving Internet traffic flow within the region. Countries who do not yet have an IX, have specially been invited to the meeting. Attendance is by invitation only, and sponsors are welcome.

The First Latin American NAP meeting was held in Cartagena, Colombia, on October 22-24, 2001, hosted by the Ministerio de Comunicaciones de Colombia y and the Cámara Colombiana de Informática y Telecomunicaciones – CCIT. (www.ccit.org.co)