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From: Mark Tinka <mtinka@africaonline.co.sz> To: Maria Dolores Lizarzaburu <mlizarza@darkwing.uoregon.edu> Cc: sghuter@nsrc.org, ralph@africaonline.co.sz Time: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 12:16:23 +0200 Subject: Re: The current state of the Internet in Swaziland > 1) Could you please provide a brief technical description of > Swaziland's external connectivity to the Internet - including upstream > provider(s), international bandwidth of the link(s), etc. ? Currently, the most common form of connectivity is by fibre/leased line to major South African ISP's, including Internet Solutions, UUNET ZA, SAIX (South African Internet Exchange) and POSIX ZA. Local ISP's are not allowed to have their own satellite uplink earth stations, but are permitted to run duplex fibre/copper circuits between their operations and ISP's within ZA. However, the local ISP's, in addition to the duplex land circuits they are allowed to run to/from ZA, are permitted to run simplex satellite services, in receive-only mode. In most cases, if this happens, they will be utilising the DVB (Digital Video Broadcast) technology, which has become common place on the African continent over the past 3 years. The local telco, SPTC (Swaziland Posts & Telecommunications) is the only entity permitted to operate a duplex satellite circuit. SPTC's IP division and service is operated by their Internet arm, Swazi.Net. Local ISP's are not compelled to buy IP service from Swazi.Net in any way, as they can get duplex service from ZA. However, running fibre/copper across the border can be quite expensive, which is where Swazi.Net would seem like a more cost-effective solution. This is in complete contrast to the model adopted by Telkom Kenya, in Kenya, and many other African countries, where all ISP's are 'supposed' to route all their outbound data through the telco. Recently, the SISPA (Swaziland ISP Association) put together and launched Swaziland's first IXP. Current members include Africa Online, Real Image and POSIX, Sz. As you may know, a lot of the work that went into the SzIXP is also credited to the NSRC. > 2)Please list the ISPs with external/international connectivity > currently operating in the country. Please also list the URLs for each ISP, > and the name and email address for the appropriate technical or administrative > contact. ISP in Sz: AFRICA ONLINE Link Type: Fibre/Copper/DVB Satellite Bandwidth: 1.088Mbps (total) Upstream ISP: Internet Solutions, ZA Swazi.Net, Sz SkyVision, EU POP Location: Mbabane (Capital City) URL: http://www.africaonline.co.sz Tech Contact: mtinka@africaonline.co.sz (Mark Tinka) ISP in Sz: REAL IMAGE Link Type: Unknown, possibly fibre/copper + DVB Satellite Bandwidth: Unknown, assumed 512Kbps Upstream ISP: Internet Solutions, ZA M-Web, ZA POP Location: Mbabane (Capital City) URL: http://www.realnet.co.sz Tech Contact: ali@realnet.co.sz (Ali Resting) ISP in Sz: POSIX, Sz Link Type: Unknown, possibly fibre/copper Bandwidth: Unknown, assumed 640Kbps Upstream ISP: POSIX, ZA POP Location: Matsapha (Industrial City) URL: http://www.posix.co.sz Tech Contact: jose@netcomm.co.sz (Jose Da Costa) ISP in Sz: SWAZI.NET (SPTC Telco Internet Division) Link Type: Fibre/copper + Duplex Satellite Service Bandwidth: Unknown, assumed 2Mbps (total) Upstream ISP: SAIX, ZA British Telecom, UK POP Location: Most of the country URL: http://www.swazi.net Tech Contact: ian@swazi.net (Ian Nhlanhla) > 3)What do you see as the prospects for Internet growth in Swaziland; > what would help it, and what are currently the major obstacles? Well, the infrastructure is quite excellent, stable and delivers quite a good service to providers and customers. The problem is getting content that will improve local traffic levels, and hence, local utilisation, a great deal. A large percentage of content is downloaded from other regions. In this part, a lot from South Africa. Internet growth, I think, would hinge on having locals get more involved in content development, suited for local consumption, spinning value-added services and interactive material along with that. Pricing isn't such a problem. Swaziland, despite its size and the few number of ISP's, has some of the lowest Internet access prices I've ever experienced on the continent, or for that matter, where Africa Online has presence. Mark Tinka <mtinka@africaonline.co.sz>
