Re: Tanzanian ISPs move closer to establishing an Internet exchange

[John Tully <tully at mikrotik.com>]

>Against that must be weighed:
>- the cost of getting a circuit to the IX (especially if the local
>   infrastructure is poor-quality copper only, and local leased lines in
>   Africa can be very expensive)

Wireless is the way!  The new OFDM stuff is so fast that you could only 
consider fiber/laser as an alternative.  We will have OFDM (around 55Mb/s 
throughput is common) from 2.4GHz - 2.7GHz (2.5GHz to 2.7GHz are safe 
licensed frequencies) or all the 5GHz range for less than $1000 a side!  Of 
course it depends on the regulations in each country.

>- the cost of extra equipment at the IX

At the EAIF meeting last year it was pointed out that a CISCO for $2000 can 
do the job if you take some good advice on exactly what to buy (also a 
MikroTik router can do it cheaper).

>- the cost of IX administration (shared between members)

Of course you need some clever people like Brian working on it.

>which generally means that you have to get above a certain size before it
>becomes economically feasible to join an IX.

I don't really know, but most likely the telecom lease line (for backhaul) 
are not coming down so quickly and the usage is surely growing in 
Africa.  So, everyday the economy should become more feasible.

>I don't dispute that IXes are good things. But you should beware
>exaggeration, as it only weakens the argument. I imagine that if there was
>$400m being poured down a drain every year, there would be people ready to
>get their hands on it. Building an IX would be an attractive commercial
>proposition.

How that was calculated is interesting.  As a former student of economics, 
I don't trust any statistics unless it is accompanied by a detailed 
description of the calculations.  Generally, you can see if you agree with 
the main idea and don't rely on vague statistics.

John
www.mikrotik.com


>Cheers,
>
>Brian.


-----
This is the afnog mailing list, managed by Majordomo 1.94.5

To send a message to this list, e-mail afnog at afnog.org
To send a request to majordomo, e-mail majordomo at afnog.org and put
your request in the body of the message (i.e use "help" for help)

This list is maintained by owner-afnog at afnog.org