Events

LONAP AGM 2020

The AGM on 21 April 2021 was adjourned to allow for extended voting time.

Voting will close at 12:00 BST (UTC+1) on Wednesday 28th April

The AGM will reconvene at 14:00 BST on 28th April 2021.

Zoom invitations will be sent out during the morning of the 28th April to everyone who registered for the meeting.

Agenda

Key Dates

Registration

Copies of the latest accounts and minutes of the previous meeting are available in the Member Document Store (member login required)
(Please note that if you see an empty folder, you will need to login first.)

Board Elections

The board consists of four elected directors and one appointed director.

• Elected director Peter Taphouse is standing down by rotation.
  • Peter Taphouse is eligible to stand for election again and has indicated his intention to do so.
• Elected director Trefor Davies is standing down by rotation. Trefor Davies has served 8 continuous years on the LONAP Board. Under the terms of our governance document is not eligible to stand for re-election this year.
  • He will be able to stand again in the future, should he wish to do so.

We have received three nominations for a seat on the LONAP board:

1. Jamie LESLEY of Netflix Luxembourg S.Ãr.l. (t/a Netflix)
   • Proposed by Bradley Raymo of Highwinds Network Group, Inc. (t/a Stackpath)
   • Seconded by Edward Dore of Freethought Internet Ltd.
2. Andy RAWNSLEY of Gamma Telecom Ltd.
   • Proposed by Charlie Boisseau of Fluency Communications Ltd. (t/a Commsworld)
   • Seconded by Ian Cleary of Google Ireland Ltd.
3. Peter TAPHOUSE
   • Proposed by Tom Bird of Idaq Ltd.
   • Seconded by Mark Fordyce of York Data Services Ltd.

• There are two seats available on the LONAP board and we have received three nominations. We will therefore hold a vote to elect two candidates to the board.

The election statements are published below.

Election Statements

• Jamie LESLEY

The London peering and interconnect community has always been central to my focus and I have been a regular and active attendee at LONAP meetings since 2010. In addition to this I was part of the LINX programme committee for 8 years.

During the various roles in my career so far, I have worked across all layers of the OSI network model. Since the beginning of this year I have been a member of the Netflix EMEA network partnerships team, focusing on improving network efficiency and improving member experience. Prior to this, I was responsible for Twitch/AWS IVS network and interconnection strategy in APAC and EMEA.

Netflix and the Open Connect team fully support my application to join the LONAP board as it closely aligns with what we’re trying to achieve as an organisation: grass-roots building of internet exchanges and the development of a strong, local community to increase efficiency and drive down costs. I would like to act as a totally accessible member of the LONAP board to members and work to encourage continued open discussion about the exchange, it’s development and future.

With my varied background, I would seek to bring to the role a measured and experienced approach to help governing LONAP and would be deeply invested in its success. I would like to support the continued growth in membership, traffic and further reductions in port pricing to deliver increasing value to members. I believe both in fostering deep relationships and further encouraging peering, and LONAP is very well placed to deliver this as a maneuverable organisation.

• Andy RAWNSLEY

Much is happening in the UK that affects our industry:

• Persistent bandwidth growth and change
• Technology moves in the Voice Industry with the move away from the PSTN to all IP
• A realisation in Government that the internet is all pervasive with consequent desire to impose control through increased regulation and legislation.

LONAP, as an IXP that is trusted by the industry to manage its peering connectivity, is well placed to steer itself through this change whilst continuing to provide value to members. I am standing for election to the LONAP Board because I passionately believe I can deliver a significant positive contribution to the ongoing development and evolution of LONAP.

Some of the relevant skills and experience that I can contribute to the LONAP Board are:

• Broad experience of the UK and global communications market with a wealth of technical, operational and commercial expertise that I have developed across the years.
• Extensive interactions with and contacts within HM Government and relevant public bodies involved in governance, regulation and security. Examples include the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI), National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) and Ofcom.
• Development of the UK’s largest and acknowledged market leading SIP and Hosted Voice ‘All IP’ telecommunications network.
• Ten years of experience as a Director, and four years as Company Secretary of NICC Standards Limited, a similar, limited by guarantee, company to LONAP.
• A strong relationship with key technology vendors.

I am confident that my senior level experience in AT&T, Global Crossing and Gamma coupled with a well-rounded external perspective will complement the LONAP Board. I pride myself on thinking through problems and challenges thoroughly, asking probing questions whilst being open, transparent, and outspoken on issues that demand debate. I will endeavour to represent the LONAP Members’ interests and ensure the Board is unafraid of open and honest debate.

I recognise the significant challenges that the UK telecommunications marketplace faces from the Network and Information Systems Regulations 2020 and the introduction of the Telecommunications (Security) Bill legislation during the autumn of 2021. LONAP and LONAP’s Members are and will be impacted by both to varying degrees. I am certain my knowledge of this increased regulatory regime will be of significant benefit to LONAP and that I will be able to help LONAP evolve to meet the statutory obligations so imposed.

I am passionate about keeping LONAP as a membership organisation and would like to see an expanded membership and customer base that drives and supports the longevity of the UK IP communications market. My vision is for LONAP to play an active and crucial part in and being at the core of the UK IP communications marketplace, providing value and excellent service to the internet economy and hence our everyday life.

• Peter TAPHOUSE

I am the current Finance Director at LONAP and my interests include networks, servers, companies and, predictably, finance. I co-founded Bytemark in 2002, where I designed two cloud platforms, built our data centre and network, ran the finances and obtained ISO27001 certification, before selling the company in late 2018.

I enjoy understanding problems, learning from first principles, building things, and doing things right. I have first-hand technical understanding of the industry as well as deep business and finance expertise in running a company at LONAP’s scale.

When I became a director of LONAP in 2017 I took on responsibility for finance, and have worked on a number of projects which yielded member benefits. A review of how we handled VAT on transactions to non-EU members resulted in several members receiving credits on their accounts and no longer being charged VAT. I also oversaw the move to new accountants who were competent to work with not-for-profit membership organisations. This allowed us to take advantage of mutual trading rules (i.e. members buying from an organisation they partially own) to ensure that our corporation tax liabilities remain low as the exchange grows. At the same time, improvements to our book keeping simplified the workflow between the company and accountants, allowing better automation of invoices and bank reconciliations. Once in place, I undertook a further review of the nominal coding to produce consistent and more useful management accounts for consideration by the board in the oversight of the company.

Outside of finance I worked with the board subcommittee to update the company Articles of Association as per the recent EGM, allowing us to hold company and board meetings fully remotely (separately from the government’s emergency legislation) and clarifying the holding of open and transparent director elections. I also advised on upgrades to the company’s virtual machine infrastructure.

I believe that LONAP is a great internet exchange point, with its focus on technical excellence, low costs, and the core proposition: providing maximum value for members.

I would love to be re-elected so I can continue on the board and help LONAP plan for the future. I believe that my skills and experience on the board remain highly relevant for the company, and I ask you for your vote.