Galaxy backs IPV6 roundtable

Galaxy Backbone plc has thrown its support behind the first-ever Nigeria Internet Protocol version Six (IPV6) Roundtable slated to hold in Lagos, the centre of excellence.

Head of Communications at Galaxy Backbone plc, Mr. Franklyn Ginger-Eke, confirmed this at the week, saying that Galaxy’s interest on the roundtable is based on the fact that the company manages the federal government infrastructure for the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs).

Commending DigitalSENSE Africa for the roundtable on this technology innovation, Eke said, Galaxy Backbone Plc is a public enterprise of the Federal Government incorporated in 2006 with the primary mandate of setting up and operating a unified Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure platform that addresses the connectivity, transversal and other technology imperatives for MDAs.

According to him, Galaxy was also charged with operating a nationwide network backbone to help facilitate the digital inclusion of underserved areas and rural communities towards the realization of the MDG goals.

And to fully achieve its mission and business objectives, he said, Galaxy is committed to operate as a commercial entity by leveraging its existing assets to extend products and service offerings to the market place.

Eke pointed out that Galaxy would use the IPV6 roundtable slated for PlanetOne, Maryland Lagos on Thursday this week, to explore its readiness to offer full range and enhanced quality of services designed to meet the challenges facing the various sectors – public & private- of the Nigerian economy.

This would enable e-Government, e-Education, e-Health Care, e-Communities and e-Payment to name a few.

Responding, DigitalSENSE Africa, the organizers, through its Executive Director, Operations, Mrs. Nkemdilim Nweke, said all is now set for the Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable slated for Thursday, June 2.

“We have put necessary machineries in place to ensure a successful Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable,” she declared.

Speaking on the readiness of her organisation to hosting a successful Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable, Mrs. Nweke noted that the one-day roundtable has received massive support from the industry including endorsement of the Association of Licensed Telecom Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA), Association of Telecommunication Companies of Nigeria (ATCON), and Nigeria Computer Society (NCS) to name a few.

While appreciating the endorsements so far received by the Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable, she pointed out that the event holding at Planet One, Maryland Lagos would be presided over by the former Communications Minister, Chief Olawale Ige.

Also, she said that the event scheduled for this week’s Thursday would witness a keynote address by the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Dr. Eugene Juwah and a lead paper by the chairman, ALTON, Mr. Gbenga Adebayo.

She said that Adebayo’s paper would focus on the stand of his group in IPv6 migration, just as NIRA president, Mrs. Mary Uduma would present the position of her group on the theme as it affects the Internet users in the country.

She said that though the World IPV6 2011 comes up on Wednesday June 8, her organizers alongside interested stakeholders to host the Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable on Thursday, June 2, 2011; ahead of the global date for the commemoration of IPV6 to put Nigerians on notice of the impeding ‘test flight’ migration.

This, she explained would mean that on Wednesday, June 8 most of the global Internet service providers like Google and Yahoo among others would only offer services on IPV6 platform.

Participants to the forthcoming Nigeria IPV6 Roundtable, she further said, would have a lot to learn as various experts have been lined up for the roundtable to exchange ideas as well as network.

She recalled that following the allocation of the last batch of the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) it became imperative for the deployment of Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6).

In addition, she said, the Internet has become a global communication network and to join this evolution and Nigerian stakeholders needed to integrate IPv6 in all areas.

She emphasised that the Internet Society (ISOC), the managerial home for the groups responsible for Internet infrastructure standards, including the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Architecture Board (IAB) came up with the World IPV6 Day, which this year would be commemorated on Wednesday, June 8, 2011.

The goal of the Test Flight Day, she said, would be to motivate organizations across the industry – regulators, operators, Internet service providers, hardware makers, operating system vendors, content providers, manufacturers, web companies and key stakeholders; to ensure a successful transition as IPv4 addresses run out.

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