diff --git a/apps/sdnip/src/main/java/org/onosproject/sdnip/bgp/BgpOpen.java b/apps/sdnip/src/main/java/org/onosproject/sdnip/bgp/BgpOpen.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..92086f3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/apps/sdnip/src/main/java/org/onosproject/sdnip/bgp/BgpOpen.java
@@ -0,0 +1,220 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2014 Open Networking Laboratory
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.onosproject.sdnip.bgp;
+
+import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffer;
+import org.jboss.netty.buffer.ChannelBuffers;
+import org.jboss.netty.channel.ChannelHandlerContext;
+import org.onlab.packet.Ip4Address;
+import org.onosproject.sdnip.bgp.BgpConstants.Notifications;
+import org.onosproject.sdnip.bgp.BgpConstants.Notifications.OpenMessageError;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+/**
+ * A class for handling BGP OPEN messages.
+ */
+final class BgpOpen {
+    private static final Logger log = LoggerFactory.getLogger(BgpOpen.class);
+
+    /**
+     * Default constructor.
+     * <p>
+     * The constructor is private to prevent creating an instance of
+     * this utility class.
+     */
+    private BgpOpen() {
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Processes BGP OPEN message.
+     *
+     * @param bgpSession the BGP Session to use
+     * @param ctx the Channel Handler Context
+     * @param message the message to process
+     */
+    static void processBgpOpen(BgpSession bgpSession,
+                               ChannelHandlerContext ctx,
+                               ChannelBuffer message) {
+        int minLength =
+            BgpConstants.BGP_OPEN_MIN_LENGTH - BgpConstants.BGP_HEADER_LENGTH;
+        if (message.readableBytes() < minLength) {
+            log.debug("BGP RX OPEN Error from {}: " +
+                      "Message length {} too short. Must be at least {}",
+                      bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), message.readableBytes(),
+                      minLength);
+            //
+            // ERROR: Bad Message Length
+            //
+            // Send NOTIFICATION and close the connection
+            ChannelBuffer txMessage =
+                BgpNotification.prepareBgpNotificationBadMessageLength(
+                        message.readableBytes() + BgpConstants.BGP_HEADER_LENGTH);
+            ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+            bgpSession.closeSession(ctx);
+            return;
+        }
+
+        //
+        // Parse the OPEN message
+        //
+        // Remote BGP version
+        int remoteBgpVersion = message.readUnsignedByte();
+        if (remoteBgpVersion != BgpConstants.BGP_VERSION) {
+            log.debug("BGP RX OPEN Error from {}: " +
+                      "Unsupported BGP version {}. Should be {}",
+                      bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), remoteBgpVersion,
+                      BgpConstants.BGP_VERSION);
+            //
+            // ERROR: Unsupported Version Number
+            //
+            // Send NOTIFICATION and close the connection
+            int errorCode = OpenMessageError.ERROR_CODE;
+            int errorSubcode = OpenMessageError.UNSUPPORTED_VERSION_NUMBER;
+            ChannelBuffer data = ChannelBuffers.buffer(2);
+            data.writeShort(BgpConstants.BGP_VERSION);
+            ChannelBuffer txMessage =
+                BgpNotification.prepareBgpNotification(errorCode, errorSubcode,
+                                                       data);
+            ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+            bgpSession.closeSession(ctx);
+            return;
+        }
+        bgpSession.setRemoteBgpVersion(remoteBgpVersion);
+
+        // Remote AS number
+        long remoteAs = message.readUnsignedShort();
+        //
+        // Verify that the AS number is same for all other BGP Sessions
+        // NOTE: This check applies only for our use-case where all BGP
+        // sessions are iBGP.
+        //
+        for (BgpSession bs : bgpSession.getBgpSessionManager().getBgpSessions()) {
+            if ((bs.getRemoteAs() != 0) && (remoteAs != bs.getRemoteAs())) {
+                log.debug("BGP RX OPEN Error from {}: Bad Peer AS {}. " +
+                          "Expected {}",
+                          bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), remoteAs,
+                          bs.getRemoteAs());
+                //
+                // ERROR: Bad Peer AS
+                //
+                // Send NOTIFICATION and close the connection
+                int errorCode = OpenMessageError.ERROR_CODE;
+                int errorSubcode = OpenMessageError.BAD_PEER_AS;
+                ChannelBuffer txMessage =
+                    BgpNotification.prepareBgpNotification(errorCode,
+                                                           errorSubcode, null);
+                ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+                bgpSession.closeSession(ctx);
+                return;
+            }
+        }
+        bgpSession.setRemoteAs(remoteAs);
+
+        // Remote Hold Time
+        long remoteHoldtime = message.readUnsignedShort();
+        if ((remoteHoldtime != 0) &&
+            (remoteHoldtime < BgpConstants.BGP_KEEPALIVE_MIN_HOLDTIME)) {
+            log.debug("BGP RX OPEN Error from {}: " +
+                      "Unacceptable Hold Time field {}. " +
+                      "Should be 0 or at least {}",
+                      bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), remoteHoldtime,
+                      BgpConstants.BGP_KEEPALIVE_MIN_HOLDTIME);
+            //
+            // ERROR: Unacceptable Hold Time
+            //
+            // Send NOTIFICATION and close the connection
+            int errorCode = OpenMessageError.ERROR_CODE;
+            int errorSubcode = OpenMessageError.UNACCEPTABLE_HOLD_TIME;
+            ChannelBuffer txMessage =
+                BgpNotification.prepareBgpNotification(errorCode, errorSubcode,
+                                                       null);
+            ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+            bgpSession.closeSession(ctx);
+            return;
+        }
+        bgpSession.setRemoteHoldtime(remoteHoldtime);
+
+        // Remote BGP Identifier
+        Ip4Address remoteBgpId =
+            Ip4Address.valueOf((int) message.readUnsignedInt());
+        bgpSession.setRemoteBgpId(remoteBgpId);
+
+        // Optional Parameters
+        int optParamLen = message.readUnsignedByte();
+        if (message.readableBytes() < optParamLen) {
+            log.debug("BGP RX OPEN Error from {}: " +
+                      "Invalid Optional Parameter Length field {}. " +
+                      "Remaining Optional Parameters {}",
+                      bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), optParamLen,
+                      message.readableBytes());
+            //
+            // ERROR: Invalid Optional Parameter Length field: Unspecific
+            //
+            // Send NOTIFICATION and close the connection
+            int errorCode = OpenMessageError.ERROR_CODE;
+            int errorSubcode = Notifications.ERROR_SUBCODE_UNSPECIFIC;
+            ChannelBuffer txMessage =
+                BgpNotification.prepareBgpNotification(errorCode, errorSubcode,
+                                                       null);
+            ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+            bgpSession.closeSession(ctx);
+            return;
+        }
+        // NOTE: Parse the optional parameters (if needed)
+        message.readBytes(optParamLen);             // NOTE: data ignored
+
+        log.debug("BGP RX OPEN message from {}: " +
+                  "BGPv{} AS {} BGP-ID {} Holdtime {}",
+                  bgpSession.getRemoteAddress(), remoteBgpVersion, remoteAs,
+                  remoteBgpId, remoteHoldtime);
+
+        // Send my OPEN followed by KEEPALIVE
+        ChannelBuffer txMessage = prepareBgpOpen(bgpSession);
+        ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+        //
+        txMessage = BgpKeepalive.prepareBgpKeepalive();
+        ctx.getChannel().write(txMessage);
+
+        // Start the KEEPALIVE timer
+        bgpSession.restartKeepaliveTimer(ctx);
+
+        // Start the Session Timeout timer
+        bgpSession.restartSessionTimeoutTimer(ctx);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Prepares BGP OPEN message.
+     *
+     * @param bgpSession the BGP Session to use
+     * @return the message to transmit (BGP header included)
+     */
+    private static ChannelBuffer prepareBgpOpen(BgpSession bgpSession) {
+        ChannelBuffer message =
+            ChannelBuffers.buffer(BgpConstants.BGP_MESSAGE_MAX_LENGTH);
+
+        //
+        // Prepare the OPEN message payload
+        //
+        message.writeByte(bgpSession.getLocalBgpVersion());
+        message.writeShort((int) bgpSession.getLocalAs());
+        message.writeShort((int) bgpSession.getLocalHoldtime());
+        message.writeInt(bgpSession.getLocalBgpId().toInt());
+        message.writeByte(0);               // No Optional Parameters
+        return BgpMessage.prepareBgpMessage(BgpConstants.BGP_TYPE_OPEN,
+                                            message);
+    }
+}