Regional Internet Registries (RIRs)

Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) are nonprofit organisations that administer and register
Internet Protocol (IP) address space and Autonomous System (AS) numbers within a defined
region. But all the RIRs work together also in joint projects.
The Regional Internet Registries is as listed in the table below.
S/
N
1
2
3
4
5

REGISTRY
African Network Information Center
(AFRINIC)
Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre
(APNIC)
American Registry for Internet Numbers
(ARIN)
Latin America and Caribbean Network
Information Centre (LACNIC)
Rseaux
IP
Europens
Network
Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC)

GEOGRAPHIC REGION
Africa, portions of the Indian Ocean
Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and
neighboring countries
Canada, many Caribbean and North
Atlantic islands, and the United States
Latin America, portions of the Caribbean
Europe, Russia, the Middle East, and
Central Asia

Figure 1: Regional Internet Registries world map

1. African Network Information Center (AFRINIC)

AFRINIC is the Regional Internet Registry (RIR) for Africa and the Indian Ocean. Its
service region is divided into six sub-regions which are Northern, Western, Central,
Eastern, Southern and the Indian Ocean regions.
The division is for statistic gathering purposes and for Board of Directors elections to
ensure regional representation.

It is responsible for the distribution and management of Internet number resources such
as IP addresses and ASN (Autonomous System Numbers) for the African region.
The table below shows the six AFRINIC service regions and the countries involved.
EASTERN
REGION

WESTERN
REGION

CENTRAL AFRICA

NORTHERN
AFRICA

SOUTHERN
AFRICA

INDIAN
OCEAN

Burundi

Benin

Cameroon

Algeria

Angola

Mauritius

Djibouti

Burkina Faso

Central African Republic

Egypt

Botswana

Runion

Eritrea

Cape Verde

Democratic Republic of the

Congo

Libya

Lesotho

Comoros

Ethiopia

Cote d'Ivoire

Equatorial Guinea

Morocco

Namibia

Mayotte

Kenya

Gambia

Gabon

Sudan

South Africa

Madagascar

Tanzania

Ghana

Republic of the Congo

South Sudan

Swaziland

Seychelles

Rwanda

Guinea

So Tom and Prncipe

Tunisia

Mozambique

Somalia

Liberia

Chad

Western Sahara

Malawi

Uganda

Mali

Mauritania

Zambia

Niger
Nigeria
Senegal
Sierra Leone
Togo

Zimbabwe

Figure 2: Map for AFRINIC Service Regions

2. Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC)

APNIC is an open, member-based, not-for-profit organization, whose primary role is to

distribute and manage Internet number resources (IP addresses and AS numbers) in the
Asia Pacific region's 56 economies.
APNIC also provides a forum for Internet Policy Development and helps build essential
technical skills across the region, supports Internet infrastructure development, produces
insightful research, and is an active participant in the multi-stakeholder model of Internet
cooperation and governance.

Figure 3: APNIC Region Map

3. American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN)

ARIN, a nonprofit member-based organization, supports the operation of the Internet

through the management of Internet number resources throughout its service region;
coordinates the development of policies by the community for the management of
Internet Protocol number resources; and advances the Internet through informational
outreach. Its services are grouped in four areas: Registration, Organization, Policy
Development, and Technical.
4. Latin America and Caribbean Network Information Centre (LACNIC)

LACNIC, the Latin American and Caribbean Internet Addresses Registry, is an

international non-government organization established in Uruguay in 2002. It is
responsible for assigning and administrating Internet numbering resources (IPv4, IPv6),
Autonomous System Numbers, Reverse Resolution and other resources for the region of
Latin America and the Caribbean

LACNIC contributes to Internet development in the region through an active cooperation

policy, promoting and defending the regional community's interests and helping create
conditions that will allow the Internet to become an effective instrument for social
inclusion and economic development in benefit of all Latin American and Caribbean
countries and citizens.

5. Rseaux IP Europens Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC)

RIPE NCC is a Regional Internet Registry for Europe, the Middle East and parts of
Central Asia. Its main task is to allocate and register blocks of Internet number resources
to Internet service providers (ISPs) and other organisations.
It is a not-for-profit organisation that works to support the RIPE (Rseaux IP Europens)
community and the wider Internet community. The RIPE NCC membership consists
mainly of Internet service providers, telecommunication organisations and large
corporations.

Tanzania Network Information Centre (tzNIC)

tzNIC is the Internet registry for .tz domain names. It manages a system that locates where a .tz
mail or web server is located. Through a consultative process, Tanzania Network information
Centre (tzNIC), a not-for-Profit Company was established and registered (in 2006) to administer
and manage the operations of the Tanzania country code Top Level Domain (.tz ccTLD). tzNIC

is a limited company (by guarantee) with 2 founding members - TCRA (the regulator) and TISPA
(the association of ISPs)
The tzNIC's core function is to manage and administer the .tz registry.
By so doing, tzNIC is able to:
Provide the worldwide online visibility;
Brand service/business with Tanzanian cyber identity;
Enhance business competitive edge;
Facilitate the localization of Internet traffic;
Ensure affordable, secure, reliable and speedy electronic communication;
Shape the development of Internet.

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)

ICANN is a nonprofit organization that is responsible for coordinating the maintenance and
procedures of several databases related to the namespaces of the Internet, ensuring the network's
stable and secure operation. ICANN performs the actual technical maintenance work of the
central Internet address pools and DNS root zone registries pursuant to the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA) function contract.

IANA does the allocation of IP address blocks to the Regional Internet Registries (RIRs) under a
contract with ICANN, before the RIRs can re-allocate to their respective geographical areas.

Much of ICANNs work has concerned the Internet's global Domain Name System (DNS),
including policy development for internationalization of the DNS system, introduction of new
generic top-level domains (TLDs), and the operation of root name servers. The numbering
facilities ICANN manages include the Internet Protocol address spaces for IPv4 and IPv6, and
assignment of address blocks to regional Internet registries. ICANN also maintains registries of
Internet Protocol identifiers.

Internet Society (ISOC)

The Internet Society (ISOC) is an international, non-profit organization founded in 1992 to
provide leadership in Internet-related standards, education, access, and policy. Its main mission is
"to promote the open development, evolution and use of the Internet for the benefit of all people
throughout the world".

Together with working to advance the internet technology, ISOC also works to ensure the
Internet continues to grow and evolve as a platform for innovation, economic development, and
social progress for people around the world. It works to ensure that the internet continues to
develop as an open platform that empowers people to share ideas and connect in new and
innovative ways and serves the economic, social, and educational needs of individuals
throughout the world today and in the future

Country Code Top-Level Domains (ccTLDs)

A country code top-level domain (ccTLD) is an Internet top-level domain generally used or
reserved for a country, sovereign state, or dependent territory identified with a country code.
All ASCII ccTLD identifiers are two letters long, and all two-letter top-level domains are
ccTLDs. In 2010, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) began implementing
internationalized country code top-level domains, consisting of language-native characters when
displayed in an end-user application

For Example,

The ccTLD for Tanzania is .tz, the registry operator being tzNIC and it is used within The
United Republic of Tanzania
For China is .cn under China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) and its
registration being allowed worldwide.
For Kenya is .ke under KENIC

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)

The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) is a large open international community of network
designers, operators, vendors, and researchers concerned with the evolution of the Internet
architecture and the smooth operation of the Internet. It is open to any interested individual.
The actual technical work of the IETF is done in its working groups, which are organized by
topic into several areas (e.g., routing, transport, security, etc.). Much of the work is handled via
mailing lists. The IETF holds meetings three times per year.

The African Network Operators Group (AfNOG)

AfNOG is a forum for cooperation and the exchange of technical information between operators
of Internet-connected networks in Africa. AfNOG aims at building a community of engineers
helping each other operate Internet Infrastructure in Africa, and on the Global Internet as well as

promote the discussion of issues relating to implementation of new networks that require
community cooperation.

Tanzania Network Operators Group (TzNOG)

TzNOG is a forum for sharing technical information among the operators of internet-connected
network in Tanzania. The formation of TzNOG was initiated by TCRA and TzNIC, working
together with TISPA and TRENET and was inaugurated on August 2013.
The main aim of TzNOG is to provide affordable platforms of building the capacity of local
Internet Engineers.
The tzNOG benefits include:
1. Networking the local Engineers with other experts around the globe;
2. Providing the network management best practices so as to take advantage of the
abundance fibre capacity we have and tap the business potential the Internet can bring to
the country;
3. Better management of network resources including mail and web servers.
4. Provide the best research platforms that are key for improvement of education in
Tanzania.
Satellite Broadband
Satellite Broadband is the high speed internet access provided through communication satellites.
Satellite internet is said to offer a relatively higher and reliable data speed, being offered by the
geostationary satellite launched in space. The download speed of Satellite broadband reaches the
maximum of 20 Mbps, while the Upload speed reaches 6 Mbps.

Submarine Communication Cable

A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to
carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean. The first submarine communications
cables, laid in the 1850s, carried telegraphy traffic. Subsequent generations of cables carried
telephone traffic, then data communications traffic. Modern cables use optical fiber technology
to carry digital data, which includes telephone, Internet and private data traffic.
Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST)
ISP:

Tanzania Education and Research Network (TERNET)

BW:

15 Mbps