On Monday 06 December 2004 17:32, Kiggundu Mukasa wrote: > Why the large expence when you have an undersea cable? > I would expect the operators to undercut the sat guys by huge margins.
Not necessarily. By and large, satellite communications for IP within Africa are a lot more affordable than fibre to Europe/N. America would be. Probably, the level of investment, management and maintenance of the undersea cable (and its redundants) runs higher costs than your average satellite service, or maybe because there isn't enough critical mass to justify reduced Internet costs vis a vis the investment in the fibre. For instance, in ZA, a basic 320Kbps dedicated circuit to one of the 3 major ISP's will cost about $3,700/month. On satellite, $3,700 can easily get you 1Mbps (depending on your negotiations and the carrier/provider you choose). Needless to say, all major ISP's in ZA run multiple DS-3's to Europe/N. America on the SAT-3 fibre (satellite is an absolute last resort). > > So I guess we should not pray for a sea cable from the coast to Kla? By all means, appreciate its arrival, but don't expect to see a significant drop in Internet access costs. The bright side; your RTT's should drop from 600ms to under 150ms (route dependant). As customers, Africans should do more to bring the cost of satellite access down. Many of the satellite providers know they are overcharging for Internet access but they also know that Africans have been used to paying tens of thousands of dollars for a few megabits of bandwidth, for a long time, and they continue to exploit this (the African phenomenon of better should be dearer). For the average $5,000 you pay a satellite provider for 1Mbps, they in turn pay their own providers under $900 (and less) for the same, give or take. Mark. > > Kiggs > > On 6 Dec 2004, at 17:35, <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > Good article on bandwidth prices in Africa in spite of undersea cable, > > I hope East Africa doesn’t suffer the same fate. > > > > …………………………………… > > > > Anecdotal evidence from West Africa thus far indicates that SAT-3 has > > had a negligible impact on improving broadband access or lowering > > prices as most customers continue to rely on satellite for > > international connectivity. For example in Ghana, a monthly half > > circuit 2Mg (E1) bandwidth cost between four thousand (4,000) and six > > thousand (6,000) US dollars over satellite while the same bandwidth > > cost twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) over the SAT3 undersea cable > > which lands in Accra. It appears indeed that in the best case > > scenario, the cost of the Internet is 25 times as expensive in Africa > > as it is in Europe; this is the case in the capital cities but, to the > > exception of these cities, bandwidth remains 100 to 400 times more > > expensive in rural and semi-urban sub-Saharan Africa than in Europe. > > If you also consider the vast difference in incomes between most > > African countries and Europe, the difference becomes even greater. > > Measured as the number of hours you must work to pay for an Internet > > connection, a user in Africa is disadvantaged by a factor of 100 or > > more. > > > > > > > > http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=69263 > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > LUG mailing list > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > > %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ > > **************** ***************************** > Kiggundu Mukasa # Computer Network Consultancy### > KYM-NET LTD. # Intranets & Internet Solutions# > Plot 80 Kanjokya Street > P.O. Box 24284 Kampala, Uganda > Tel: +256 77 972255 > +256 71 221141 > Fax: +256 31 262122 > ***************************************************************** > > _______________________________________________ > LUG mailing list > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug > %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/ _______________________________________________ LUG mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://kym.net/mailman/listinfo/lug %LUG is generously hosted by INFOCOM http://www.infocom.co.ug/
