The Current Status of Research Networking in Pakistan.

1
The Current Status of Research Networking in
Pakistan.

• Arshad Ali (NIIT) and Warren Matthews (Georgia
  Tech).

2
Pakistan
This map taken from the CIA fact book.
(http//www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos
/pk.html)
3
Research and International Collaboration

• Pakistan has 8-10 major universities with
  significant international collaboration.
  
• HEP, Chemistry, Biology, Grid research.
• North America, CERN and other parts of Europe.
• Supported by the Pakistan Educational Research
  Network (PERN).
  

4
Network Providers

• Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited
  (PTCL)
  
• 1 million users
• Monopoly ended in December 2002.
• National Telecommunications Corporation (NTC)
• 2500 for E1 (2Mbps) connection to PERN.
  Independent of mileage.

5
International Connectivity

• SEAMEWE3
• South East Asia (SEA), Middle East (ME), West
  Europe (WE).
  
• Termination point is PTCL location in Karachi.
• SEAMEWE3 best know for multiple 12hour outages.

6
International Connectivity

• All International voice and data traffic is
  across SEAMEWE3.
  
• Connections on West (SingTel) and East (BT)
  segments.
  
• First hop for both is to Fujairah, UAE.
• Satellite backup.

7
Future Connectivity

• SEAMEWE4 under construction
• Total capacity 1.28Tbps (128 x 10Gbps).
• PTCL is the only consortium member from
  Pakistan.
  
• DWDM equipment will be installed in Karachi.
• Expected Q4 2005.

8
Future Connectivity

• Karachi - Islamabad will be upgraded to a 10Gbps
  ring.
  
• Opportunities for other ?.
• Domestic network is expanding to 25 more cities
  from 3 ATM switches and access routers in 15
  cities.
  

9
Summary

• Following deregulation, research networking in
  Pakistan is expanding rapidly.
  
• SEAMEWE4 will provide significant increase in
  international bandwidth.
  
• Significant increase within Pakistan too.
• Potential improvement for Universities.
• Both Pakistani and external.

10
Links

• http//www.pern.edu.pk
• http//www.ptcl.com.pk