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​Africa and the Middle East

 

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North Africa

ASREN is the Arab States Research and Education Network, the organisation that coordinates national research and education network (NREN) organisations in North Africa and the Middle East and provides support and assistance to upgrade and expand connectivity. ASREN plays a key role in the delivery of the AfricaConnect2 pan-African connectivity project in North Africa, which is co-managed by GÉANT.​

 

Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia are the beneficiary countries in the North African sub-regional cluster of AfricaConnect2. They are represented by their NRENs with regional support from ASREN.

 

Until 2015 these countries were part of the EUMEDCONNECT project, which has provided a high-capacity dedicated internet network for the research and education communities across the southern and eastern Mediterranean region since 2004. Jordan, Lebanon and Palestine continue to benefit from EUMEDCONNECT3 which has recently been extended to the end of 2019.

 

The table below shows the current status of connections:

  
​NREN​Country​​Mbps Connection
​ARN​Algeria2.5Gbps
​​ENSTINET​

LERN (via AUB)
​Egypt

Lebanon

Jordan
​622Mbps

320Mbps (via ASREN)

155Mbps (via ASREN)
The Moroccan and Tunisian networks were disconnected in recent years. By participating in Africaconnect2, the partners will focus on:

 

  • re-establishing international connectivity for Morocco and Tunisia;
  • upgrading international connectivity for Algeria and Egypt;​
  • deploying network services;
  • developing sustainability within this African sub-region. ​

 

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​​West and Central Africa

WACREN is the regional networking organisation for West and Central Africa and currently comprises ten NREN members: RerBenin, RIC (Cameroon), GabonREN, GARNET (Ghana), RITER (Ivory Coast), MaliREN, NigerREN, NgREN (Nigeria), snRER (Senegal) and Togo-RER.

 

WACREN partners with GÉANT to deliver the pan-African connectivity project AfricaConnect2 in its region, supporting NREN development and building a sustainable regional research and education internet network.

 

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Eastern and Southern Africa

The UbuntuNet Alliance is a regional association of NRENs in Africa. It was established in 2005 by five established and emerging NRENs in Eastern and Southern Africa and currently comprises 15 NREN members.

 

Through the procurement and deployment of high-speed internet connections across Eastern and Southern Africa between 2011 and 2014, the AfricaConnect project (predecessor of AfricaConnect2) significantly added to connectivity already provided by the UbuntuNet network, interlinking existing NRENs in the region and providing additional connectivity between the region and GÉANT. 

 

​Seven NRENs - in Kenya, Mozambique, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia - are already connected. More connections will be established under AfricaConnect2, the pan-African connectivity project co-managed by GÉANT and the UbuntuNet Alliance, in association with WACREN and ASREN.

​​NREN ​Country ​Mbps Connection
​BERNET ​      ​-
​Eb@le ​Democratic Republic of Congo      ​-
​EthERNet ​Ethiopia      ​-
​iRENALA ​Madagascar      ​-
​KENET ​Kenya ​4.5Gbps
​MAREN ​Malawi​      -​
​MoRENet ​Mozambique 155Mbps​
​RENU ​Uganda ​622Mbps
​RwEdNet ​Rwanda ​622Mbps
​SomaliREN​ ​Somalia      ​-
​SudanREN ​Sudan      ​-
​TENET ​South Africa ​20Gbps
​​TERNET ​Tanzania ​155Mbps
​Xnet ​Namibia      ​-
​ZAMREN ​Zambia ​200Mbps
​​​​

 

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​Middle East

 

Eastern Mediterranean

Providing a dedicated internet network for research and education for the Mediterranean since 2004, the EUMEDCONNECT programme, coordinated by GÉANT and now in its 3rd phase,​connects universities and research centres across the southern and eastern Mediterranean to over 50 million users at more than 10,000 research and education establishments across Europe and further afield. 
 

The beneficiary countries of EUMEDCONNECT3 are Palestine, Jordan and Lebanon. Up to 2015, the partners in North African countries (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt) were also beneficiaries of EUMEDCONNECT3 but have now become part of AfricaConnect2, the pan-African connectivity project.

 

ASREN (the Arab States Research and Education Network) is a regional partner operating a dedicated PoP in London and also connecting Jordan. The PoP is available for direct interconnection by other EUMEDCONNECT3 partners and Middle Eastern NRENs requiring connections to other NRENs within the region and to the GÉANT network.

 

The table below shows the current status of the network:

​NREN ​Country ​Mbps Connection
​ASREN (JUNET) ​Jordan ​155Mbps

To learn more, please visit the EUMEDCONNECT3 website: www.eumedconnect3.net 

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Connecting to other Middle East countries
 

United Arab Emirates

ANKABUT is the research and education network for the United Arab Emirates. ANKABUT interconnects federal universities in the UAE and provides for international connectivity with research and education networking peers. Via an ANKABUT link to Internet2 in the United States, academics and researchers in Europe and the UAE are able to collaborate with one another.

  

Ankabut is currently implementing the Arabian Global Education Open Exchange (AGE-OX) in Fujairah, UAE to broaden the global reach in the Gulf.

 

Qatar

The Qatar Research and Education Network (QNREN) interconnects with the GÉANT network in Amsterdam. The peering, initially at 1Gbps, extends GÉANT network international connectivity and allows researchers in Qatar to collaborate with peers in Europe and other world regions. QNREN has been established with government endorsement by Qatar University, which is Qatar’s main public university.

 

Saudi Arabia

KAUST logo.pngSARInet is the Saudi Academic Research and Innovation Network which is formed by the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) and the King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST). SARInet is administered and operated by KACST. A 1Gbps link from SARInet to the GÉANT network has been implemented by KAUST and has been operational since early 2011.

 

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