II. GENERAL GUIDELINES The telecommunications operators and Internet Service Providers shall meet the guidelines as laid down below: 2.1 Obligation to interconnect to exchange (1) It shall be the obligation of every Internet Service Provider to interconnect its computer system and to keep it interconnected at all times (24/7) to an Exchange for the purpose of facilitating the efficient routing and interconnection of Internet Protocol transit networks within Rwanda and of avoiding the use of international lines for Internet Protocol traffic between Internet users in Rwanda and of consequently improving the general connectivity of the Internet. (2) Internet Service Providers which satisfy the Regulator that they do not have a direct international connection to the Internet through which Internet access is provided to their customers may be exempted in writing by the Regulator from the obligation stipulated in these guidelines. (3) It shall be the obligation of every Internet Service Provider to distribute and receive routing information for local traffic data to or from all members of the Exchange. 2.2 Traffic and engineering data (1) The Exchange shall be entitled to demand such a reasonable extent of traffic data and engineering data from Internet Service Providers as is necessary and proportionate for it to be able to perform its functions efficiently. (2) Any data collected by the Exchange in terms of these guidelines shall be kept confidential by the Exchange subject to any obligation of disclosure in accordance with the applicable laws. (3) The Exchange shall comply with the telecommunications law and regulations in respect of any data collected in pursuance of these guidelines. 2.3 Interconnection Policy of RINEX (1) RINEX shall be versatile enough to accommodate all type of interconnect links as per licensing/ regulatory requirements. (2) An ISP at any RINEX node must at a minimum announce all its regional routes to the RINEX router at that RINEX location. All ISPs connecting to that RINEX node are entitled to receive these routes using a single BGP session with the RINEX router. This will guarantee the exchange of regional traffic within RINEX. This is referred to as forced regional multi-lateral peering. RINEX GUIDELINES 2009 Page 5