[afnog] seeking best VSAT connection providers for Africa

[Dr Paulos Nyirenda]

Dear Badru Ntege,

Thank you for your reply. We are looking for something more reliable than "best effort" 
services. We are looking for committed bandwidths of 2 mega bits per second right 
now and upgradable within one year.

Would be glad to hear more from you.

Regards,

Paulos
======================
Dr Paulos B Nyirenda
Malawi SDNP Coordinator


On 25 Jun 2004 at 10:52, Badru Ntege <ntegeb at one2net.co.ug> wrote:

> 
> >1. IPPlanet,
> >2. NewSkies,
> >3. Verestar,
> >4. SkyVision,
> >5. Taide.
> 
> You list the usual suspects these offer the standard SCPC ( single Channel
> Per Carrier) or SCPC/DVB (Digital Video Broadcast)Hybrid. It's tried and
> tested and works but still on the expensive side.  
> 
> A number of new standards have come up and some new suppliers like GT&T are
> offering this service on the African subcontinent. The Equipment costs are
> lower but depending on the supplier the quality may vary.
> 
> This is due to the configuration, whereas on the SCPC platform you get
> dedicated a channel for your uplink, the new DVB-RCS (Return Channel
> Service) works on the basis of sharing the channel among a number of other
> clients using TDMA.  Thus the reason for having proviso's like "best effort"
> in the contracts. 
> 
> Depending on what you are looking for these new services become more cost
> effective even for a small ISP, since the price deferential is quite high.
> 
> During my research I got an offer for 128k service best effort including
> equipment for under 7,000 euros for an annual contract.
> 
> >I guess it is necessary to highlight parameters for deciding what best
> >refers to. These must include (a) price, (b) reliability, (c) flexibility,
> >(d) support, (e) stability and such like items. >
> 
> Looking at (a) I would say new services based on Idirect or DVB-RCS( GT&T,
> Plenexus etc)
> 
> For the rest you would be looking at the traditional carriers using either
> C-band or KU band.
> 
> If you let us know the exact application I might be able to advise you
> better.  
> 
> Hope this helps.
> 
>