The management of the Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN) has given some reasons behind its recent deal entered with the Nigeria Internet Registration Association (NIRA).

The deal which saw IXPN and NIRA endorsing a five-year Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) focuses on outsourcing a part of its Registry functions.

It would be recalled that NIRA manages the Nigeria’s identity on cyberspace and its associated sub-level domain names and ensures cost-effective administration of the .ng Top Level Domain. IXPN on the other hand, provides core infrastructure that allows several Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and network operators to exchange traffic between their networks locally otherwise known as peering.

A press statement jointly made available to media by the management of the two entities indicated that the MoU enables the outsourcing of administration of some technical aspects of .ng country code Top Level Domain (ccTLD) operations and ancillary services to IXPN.

Speaking soon after MoU was signed in Lagos, the Managing Director, IXPN, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, said that his organisational involvement in the management of some technical aspect of .ng ccTLD registry operations would enhance local content creation, and bring the .ng ccTLD closer to the operators and service providers.

“The operator neutral nature of the eXchange Point provides further advantages to NIRA’s technical operations,” Rudman said.

Equally speaking, the Chief Operating Officer of NiRA, Mr. Opeoluwa Odusan, said that the MoU is to improve the ease of access to, and availability of the .ng Registry.

He also said that signing of the MOU formally supports the current arrangement of the Internet Exchange point managing some technical operations of .ng registry while NiRA work to increase its in-house technical resources.

An excerpt of the MoU entered last month, March, shows that NIRA is to fund the MoU while both parties have other non-funding obligations in addition to performance threshold in line with industry practice for the provision of the services.

Source: press release