How Shortfall in Autonomous System Number is Limiting Growth of Internet Exchange Points in Nigeria

Emma Okonji

Statistics have shown that Nigeria has a total of 257 Autonomous System Numbers (ASNs), which is a fraction of what most counties of the world currently have.

For instance, South Africa with a population that is far less than that of Nigeria, has over 800 ASNs, while developed countries like UK, US, and Italy, each has over 3,000 ASNs, through which they were able to expand their internet exchange points to boost internet connectivity across their countries. 
Autonomous System Number is a globally unique identifier that defines a group or more IP prefixes run by one or more network operators that maintain a single clearly-defined routing policy.

In Nigeria, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), including content distributors, research institutions, educational institutions and financial institutions that use the internet for connectivity, are supposed to register with the African Network Information Centre (AFRINIC), the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa that assigns Internet Protocol (IP) resources known as Autonomous System Numbers, that will enable them interconnect with available internet exchange points to boost internet access and connectivity, but they are restrained by the limited number of ASNs that they currently have, which is put at just 257 for the whole of Nigeria.   

Worried about the limited number of ASNs that Nigeria currently has, the Chief Executive Officer of Internet eXchange Point of Nigeria (IXPN), the body that manages Nigeria’s Internet Exchange Points and promotes seamless connectivity and innovation with peering community, Mr. Muhammed Rudman, said the shortfall in Autonomous System Numbers is adversely affecting the growth and expansion of internet exchange points in Nigeria.

Rudman, who expressed this view during the annual members’ engagement forum, organised for its members in Lagos, called on the federal government to urgently intervene and come up with measures that will help populate ASNs in Nigeria.    

“What Nigeria is facing today is that some states that have up to four ASNs, may have only two active Internet Service Providers, and IXPN needs a minimum of three ISPs in a state, to set up an exchange point in that state. Nigeria is big in terms of population, but in reality, the networks providing internet access are very small. Over 99 per cent of Nigerians that browse the internet, do so from their mobile phones, using the Mobile Network Operators’ (MNOs) platform, which is good, but when you want to really have volume of internet traffic, you need to have the fixed wired, the fixed wireless lines that generate internet traffic volume from the homes and offices,” Rudman said.

Analysing ASN distribution by sectors in Nigeria, Rudman said Nigeria has a total of 257 ASNs, with Internet Service Providers (ISPs) having 140, Content Delivery Network (CDN) 1, Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) 24, Financial Institutions (FI) 22, Others 70, bringing the total to 257. He however said out of the 257 ASNs, only 37 per cent is connected to ISPs, while 63 per cent is not connected.

Giving further details of the connected and non-connected sectors, he said among the ISPs that have ASNs, 85 are connected to IXPN while 55 are not connected.

According to him, only one Content Delivery Network (CDN) is connected, and out of the 24 Higher Educational Institutions that have acquired ASN, only one is connected to IXPN, while 23 are not connected. For the 22 Financial Institutions that have ASNs, only one is connected to IXPN, which is the Central Bank of Nigeria, while the remaining 21 are not connected. For Others, which include churches, mosques, malls, electricity distribution companies, among others, eight are connected to IXPN, while 62 are not connected, bringing the total number of connected to 95 and non-connected to 162. 

Giving the categories of states that are connected to IXPN, Rudman said only six states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja, are connected to IXPN, with Lagos leading with 161 ASNs, followed by FCT (44), Ogun (7), Oyo (6), Kano (6), Rivers (5) and Osun (4).

According to him, states, organisations and institutions that do not have Autonomous System Numbers assigned to them by AFRINIC, cannot be connected to IXPN.

“Any state that has at least four or more Autonomous System Numbers, can attract IXPN to set up its Point of Presence (PoP) and establish Internet Exchange Points in such state, to boost internet access and connectivity, but the issue is that some of the states that have like four ASNs, for example, may only have two active ISPs, and we need a minimum of three to set up an exchange point,” Rudman further said.

Giving a projection of the activities of IXPN for 2025, Rudman said it would establish additional exchange points across states, attract more content providers to the country, and provide training and capacity building for its members on topical issues and best practices related to peering and interconnectivity.