The RIR RIPE NCC has published its Internet country report series about Central Asia, Southeast Europe, Saudi Arabia, Russia, and Germany. The most recently published report in the RIR’s series looks at eight Gulf nations’ internet landscape, with a focus on the landscape in Iraq and Yemen. It gives an outlook about the infrastructure, market development, internet routing in the Middle East, and the available IP resources in Gulf nations. Read on to know more about what is in the report.
Growth In LIRs
The RIR’s report demonstrates that the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq have shown considerable growth in setting up local networks over the last decade. It suggests that Iraq surpassed the GCC nations with the maximum LIRs. Conversely, Bahrain, Qatar, Yemen, and Oman have had less growth in comparison, with some reducing their Local Internet Registry count.
The private network (ASN) count in a nation signifies market maturity as well. Those networks increase resilience, encourage interconnection, and offer security in the domestic market. With a greater number of service providers entering the market, this would reduce costs and drive up innovation, which can back the domestic Internet ecosystem’s health in the long run.
Demand For Internet Connectivity And IPv4 Depletion
Mobile connectivity in the area has had both a quicker penetration rate and growth as compared to fixed broadband, considering the high dependence on mobile internet access here. Several nations in this region have the world’s highest mobile internet plan purchases per capita.
When an increasing number of organizations scramble to access networks, IPv4 address demand in this region went up with nations like the UAE, Saudi Arabia and others acquiring more of those addresses in the secondary marketplace. The report suggests that the UAE and Saudi Arabia have the two most dominant positions in the IP market.
Need For The Deployment Of IPv6
Notwithstanding the declining availability of IPv4 addresses and their rising price on the market, several Gulf nations keep struggling with IPv6 address deployment. Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, and the UAE considerably raised their IPv6 stock in the recent past, but there are big differences in real deployment rates. Still, only the UAE is ahead of Saudi Arabia with regards to the regional IPv6 deployment.
Protecting Networks And Data
Adopting RPKI, a certificate that aids network operators in making more secure choices regarding routing, could considerably improve routing security in this region. The report tells ISPs and mobile operators to not only certify their IP resources but also share best present operational practices about routing security. Open diverse marketplaces that enable greater connectivity, more service provider choice, and multiple internet access points are all needed.