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| Communications Authority Celebrates its 10th Year Anniversary |
| On 22nd October 2004, the Zambian Communications Authority (CA) celebrated 10 years of existence.... more |
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| The Communication Authority launches its CA Open Forum |
| The Communications Authority (CA) recently launched the CA Open Forum, which serves as an interactive public communication channel and focuses on the regulation of the information communication industry.... more |
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| UUNET Zambia celebrates its 3rd Year Anniversary |
| The 31st October 2004 is a very significant date for all staff at UUNET Zambia. Each year we celebrate our Birthday on this day and this year – we are commemorating our third year of existence.... more |
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| SOUTH AFRICA |
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| UUNET’s MCI is ranked as most connected Internet network provider for fourth consecutive year |
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| Golfing the UUNET SA way! |
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| UUNET SA welcomes its Country Leader |
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| BOTSWANA |
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| UUNET Botswana empowers an intern from the Botswana Accountancy College (BAC) |
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| UUNET Botswana upgrades Web server |
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| UUNET awarded tender from University of Botswana (UB) |
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| KENYA |
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| High Expectations of Internet Backbone Competition |
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| VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORK: How Secure Is It For Business? |
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| VoIP: Cost Saving Technology You Must Consider |
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| UUNET Kenya in Action |
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| NAMIBIA |
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| UUNET Namibia giving back |
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| UUNET Namibia and the Tour de Windhoek |
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| UUNET Namibia finalising year-end |
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| Re-empowering UUNET Namibia |
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On 22nd October 2004, the Zambian Communications Authority (CA) celebrated 10 years of existence. UUNET Zambia joins the ICT sector in congratulating the CA for this achievement and wishes the company all the success for the future. |
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The Communications Authority (CA) recently launched the CA Open Forum, which serves as an interactive public communication channel and focuses on the regulation of the information communication industry. This strategy has been implemented to facilitate accelerated growth within the sector. CA Chief Executive Officer, Shuller Habeenzu said; “A focus on effective regulation in the ICT Sector will assist in making the cost of services more affordable to more Zambians.”
According to CA it is estimated that there are only about 18,000 active Internet users in Zambia. If the number of people using Internet Cafés is considered, the CA estimates the figure to increase to approximately 50,000 people. UUNET Zambia says; “UUNET will continue to contribute to the growth of the ICT sector in Zambia through the provision of quality and reliable VSAT, DSL, Wireless and Dial-up Internet Solutions.” |
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The 31st October 2004 is a very significant date for all staff at UUNET Zambia. Each year we celebrate our Birthday on this day and this year – we are commemorating our third year of existence. UUNET Zambia would like to take this opportunity to thank all our valued customers for the support and loyalty rendered during this time and would like to reiterate our promise of service excellence delivery and efficiency is all that we undertake to fast track Africa’s communication development.
Below are some of our achievements over the last three years – all of which we are very proud of:
- Commissioning of an independent Gateway
- Launch of our UUSAT VSAT solution and commissioning for our first customer in Chingola – Atlas Copco
- Commissioning of a POP in Kitwe
- Commissioning of a POP in Ndola
- Consolidation and growth of the Lusaka Network through new client signings and implementations
Please watch this space…as next year we plan to rollout more innovative products and solutions to the Zambian market! |
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We are all extremely proud and excited at the recent announcement by our parent company MCI, stating that its global IP network has been recognised as the world's most connected Internet backbone network - for the fourth consecutive year!
This announcement was made on the back of a results report compiled by TeleGeography, a research division of PriMetrica, Inc. In its Annual 2005 Global Internet Geography Database and Report. The report found that MCI's global network continues to serve the Internet with the greatest number of Autonomous System (AS) network connections of any IP network by more than 50%. These results reiterate the fundamental role that the MCI backbone plays in terms of Internet traffic across the globe.
Being part of this extraordinary achievement is very rewarding and further demonstrates our local capabilities on the back of MCI's expansive footprint and interconnections enabling us to carry digital information quickly and reliably around the globe for all our valued customers.
How was the research conducted?
Alan Mauldin, senior research analyst for TeleGeography briefly explains the research report process. “The Autonomous System ranking is a measure of the connectedness of an IP network to the rest of the public Internet. While all networks can reach each other on the Internet, the AS ranking demonstrates the closeness of a network to the rest of the Internet, as in number of hops data must take to reach its destination. Since TeleGeography began tracking AS-connectivity in 2001, not only has MCI ranked first each year, but consistently has held a wide margin over the nearest service provider."
However, this ranking is not the only exciting news for our customers. In late-July, MCI announced that it had raised the bar on Internet service by increasing its performance threshold. The company introduced new guarantees for traffic between key global business centres and set new standards for Internet service around the world. These service level agreements reinforce MCI and UUNET’s ongoing commitment to delivering high performance IP-based services and provide additional confidence for businesses evolving their communications to an increasingly IP environment.
Some major milestones for MCI include:
- Pioneered the commercial Internet in 1987
- Has an IP network that spans six continents and supports more than two million global dial modems
- MCI's Internet backbone provides more than 4 500 IP PoPs throughout North America, Latin America, UK-Europe, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region
- MCI played an integral role in building a trans-Pacific submarine cable named Southern Cross that opened up direct Internet traffic routes from California to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji in 2000
- MCI was the first data communications company to deploy an ultra long-haul network
- MCI was the first to field test 40G over both a short haul and long haul network
- MCI was the first to announce a converged packet access strategy
- MCI was the first to deploy the industry's latest state-of-the-art fibre, Medium Dispersion Fiber
For more information regarding the TeleGeography and its 2005 Global Internet Geography Database and report, please visit www.primetrica.com |
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South Africa is known as one of the sporting nations of the world – and rightly so as our passion and commitment to sporting excellence is so strong – many say it is like a religion!
From the leading examples of our South African greats – “The Big Easy” (Ernie Els) and “Goose” (Retief Goosen) right through to our very own UUNET employee’s – Golf is definitely a game that is enjoyed across all age groups and cultures in our rainbow nation.
As per this tradition, UUNET SA held its Annual Golf Classic on 25 October 2004 at the Royal Johannesburg and Kensington Country Club. This year saw over 200 golfers registered for the day – consisting of UUNET SA’s customers and partners. Even some of the UUNET suppliers pledged their support by sponsoring holes throughout the course to make the day that much more interesting! Another highlight to the day was having UUNET SA’s new managing director Bheki Nkomo participating. Bheki highlighted his passion for customer interactions and relationship development – and was a true example to us all!
We would like to take this opportunity to thank all that were involved in making this annual golf day such a success! |
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There has been an incredible amount of excitement and enthusiasm within the UUNET offices around the African continent – but the South African office has been making the most noise! Why you may ask? UUNET SA staff were recently introduced to Bheki Nkomo, the new Managing Director (MD) of the South African office with effect from 1 November 2004.
This appointment could not have been better timed – as the UUNET SA office has had a real ‘buzz’ recently, celebrating a number of large customer wins – which the dedicated sales team have secured through customer excellence backed by MCI solution innovation. The announcement of the new MD further elevated the dynamics, culture and enthusiasm of the entire team as they look forward to Bheki leading them to even greater heights!
As a proven telecommunication specialist, Bheki holds a B.Sc. degree in Electronic Engineering from the University of Surrey, UK, and has worked for a number of global communications companies, including BT, Motorola, and British Telephone Systems (BTS). He has also served as consultant to various BE companies in South Africa and in 1999 joined PQ Africa/Comparex, as Business Development Manager for Africa. In 2001 he was appointed at arivia.kom where he held the position of Strategic Marketing Executive Public Sector and the following year was appointed Managing Executive for Africa.
The entire UUNET SA team has welcomed Mr. Nkomo, as his wealth of experience and knowledge in the area of strategic business development and leadership will certainly continue to set the standards for growth and empowerment in Africa.
This message from Bheki says it all: “UUNET SA already possesses a dynamic and dedicated team of professionals as well as a great network. I look forward to leading the team and supporting the company’s drive toward creating a competitive landscape by developing and implementing solutions that enable customers to exploit their IP solutions.” |
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As part of its corporate social responsibility initiatives, UUNET Botswana has recently taken on BAC student, Malebogo Modipane, into the organisation as an intern within the finance department for the next six months. Malebogo is currently completing her AAT Technician Stage, which requires every candidate to prepare a project on what they have learnt during their internship to be able to qualify as an Accounting Technician. All staff at UUNET Botswana welcomes her and fully extend our expertise and guidance to enable this leader of tomorrow to realise her dreams and assist her with the development of her financial career. |
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UUNET Botswana has recently upgraded its Web server, now consisting of an even more powerful and efficient machine running Microsoft Windows 2003 Server. “At UUNET we highly value the integrity and confidentiality of our customers' data, hosted on our servers, and as such we investigated the most reliable options” says Lawrence Mashungwa, general manager at UUNET Botswana. “We concluded that the Windows 2003 Server was an ideal server to host our customers' Web sites as not only does it enhance security, reliability, availability and scalability but also improves the speed of browsing. This upgrade will ensure that we continue to provide our customers with increased efficiencies.” |
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UUNET Botswana was recently awarded the tender to implement video conferencing connectivity/bandwidth from the main campus of the UB in Gaborone to its other two main sites - Francistown and Maun. The site surveys, which went very well, have been concluded and the project is on schedule to roll out end of 2004.
Lawrence Mashungwa, general manager at UUNET Botswana said; “Last year, we were awarded the UB main Campus Internet connectivity tender and the University have been extremely pleased with the results. This is evident in us being awarded this new project implementation and again reiterates UUNET Botswana as a trusted service provider in the ICT sector. |
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 The clock is ticking towards the expiry of the 60- day period in which the public can raise objections towards the Communications Commission of Kenya’s (CCK) decision to offer licenses to private providers of an Internet backbone link.
When the CCK Director General Samuel Kirui made this announcement nearly two months ago, the local telecom sector breathed a huge sigh of relief. This was arguably the biggest development in Kenya’s sector since the launch of the initial GSM licenses. Since then all eyes are on the CCK to see what move it makes next.
Industry players widely expect the regulator to make good its intentions to give private players a chance to compete in the provision of Internet backbone service. An Internet backbone is a wire connection that links the country’s Internet with an international one. Currently it is only Telkom Kenya that provides this connection commonly known as Jambonet. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) have however complained that Jambonet is congested and it has been experiencing problems due to overload.
With the general rise in appreciation and demand for the Internet, the single shared link that is Jambonet is stretched such that the connection’s reliability depends on how much capacity is available. According to industry players there are certain aspects of the licensing that are quite significant. CCK stated that the licenses would be offered on a first come first served basis. This means that there will be no expensive and time consuming bidding processes. Essentially, any company that can afford the license fee and have the technical qualifications set by the CCK will be given a license to operate.
This is a marked departure from the past when the tendering process was more like a “beauty contest”. It was expensive, time consuming and entailed giving the license to the company with the most beautiful proposal. The danger that this system faced was the fact that it ran the risk of a winner being technically incompetent to run the business once in operation. Furthermore it was not always a guarantee that the winner would raise the money to pay for the license, which was often over valued.
Experts concede that many governments make the mistake of valuing the licenses highly thus denying the licensees capital with which to run their operations, yet in many cases much of this money is borrowed.
On the other hand ISP licenses were issued on a first come first served basis and while initially there were close to 80 ISPs, over time the market sorted itself out and now barely twenty are in operation.
Sources close to the CCK indicate that the regulator is determined to issue the Internet backbone licenses during the month of November 2004. It is also likely that the license fee could be in the range of Kenya Shillings 15 million. Sources said that this fee ensures that the government raises enough money from the licenses and non-serious players do not distort the market.
By the end of the year, Kenyan ISPs will have a choice. Industry players say that this is one thing that has been lacking. UUNET Technical Director Robert Kariuki Mugo explains that having one provider has meant that when it has problems then everyone else suffers. With many suppliers, businesses will still be able to connect even when one service provider goes down. According to Kariuki, operators will also be able to buy spare capacity for each other in order to have alternative paths should their own connections experience problems or short term excess demand. This will lead to increased reliability and end users will not have to suffer outages or service degradation.
Says Kariuki, "Liberalisation of Internet Gateway services is standard practice around the world. When an operator manages their own gateway they are able to manage its performance and guarantee certain levels of quality. We will now be able to give comprehensive Service Levels Agreements (SLAs) to our clients such that they will be able to use new applications and predict their performance".
Companies that rely on the Internet and multi-country WANs for their business also have high expectations. Many IT executives are quite hopeful that the entry of other players into the sector will change things for the better. Kenya Airways Information Systems Director Kevin Kinyanjui says that Kenya still has a weak international link and much improvement is required. "Compared to other countries where we operate, especially in Europe and Asia, we do not experience such levels of service and unavailability as there are multiple providers available for international communications services who compete and give a much better offering."
Following the end of Telkom’s monopoly in this area it is widely anticipated that the regulator will also clarify the rules covering carriage of multimedia traffic such as VoIP over an existing network. This means companies will be able to make phone and fax calls using their ISP. This technology has been available for some time but its use has been a grey area as it was not in CCKs market structure and Telkom prohibited its use on their links. Most users of the Internet are highly expectant that usage costs will come down. But it remains to be seen in which areas these cost savings will be achieved. |
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 A Virtual Private Network (VPN) is an enterprise network set up on shared infrastructure and which uses the same level of security, management and efficiency policies found in private networks.
There are a number of reasons to set up a VPN for remote access, but the biggest attraction by far is the potential cost savings.
Using the Internet to distribute network services over long distances means companies no longer have to purchase expensive leased lines to branch or partners' offices as a VPN connection needs only to use a relatively short dedicated connection. In an organisation experiencing rapid growth, this can make an enormous difference in costs. As an organisation adds companies to its network, the number of leased lines required grows exponentially. In a traditional Wide Area Network (WAN), this can limit the flexibility for growth. VPNs avoid this problem by tapping into an almost universally available network.
VPN technologies are also considered remarkably secure. Using advanced, standards-based security protocols an organisation’s data is protected from unauthorised access and misuse. As an organisation’s data traffic will be crossing a public network, it is important that the confidentiality and authenticity of the data be preserved during transit. This can be achieved by the use of encryption meaning data sent over the public network is encrypted with a unique key and decrypted at the receiving end using the same unique key. To further enhance security, authentication can also used to avoid unauthorised manipulation of the data during transit.
Other benefits of VPN’s include increased productivity, increased flexibility for mobile users and centralised database administration. |
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What is IP Telephony?
Internet Protocol Telephony or VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) is the transmission of telephone calls over a data network. This is accomplished by packetisation of the voice streams. VOIP enables users to make telephone calls over a data network like the Internet. VOIP converts the voice signal from the telephone into a digital signal that can be transmitted across the data network. At the receiving end, the signal gets converted back to voice. The basic telephone functions between traditional voice and VOIP are identical. A user picks up the receiver, hears a dial tone and dials numbers as they’ve done in the past. In fact, many VOIP users are unaware that they are not on a traditional Private Branch Exchange(PBX) phone system until they learn about the additional features and functions that an IP Telephony system provides.
What are the benefits of IP Telephony?
IP Telephony may use a single infrastructure for providing both Internet access (data) and Internet telephony (voice). Only data-oriented equipment need be deployed for moving data as well as packetized voice.
By moving from two separate networks to one powerful converged network, an IP Telephony solution provides immediate cost reductions in both staffing and maintenance of hardware and software.
The convergence of voice and data may facilitate the implementation of such cutting edge applications as unified messaging, multimedia conferencing, collaborative contact centers, and interactive multimedia response systems. These applications help organisations realise business gains by improving operational efficiencies, increasing productivity, and enhancing both user and customer satisfaction.
IP Telephony Solutions allow telecommuting employees to become more productive by granting access to all the capabilities of the telephony software.
How can IP Telephony save money?
One Network: IP Telephony eliminates the cost and administrative overhead required for separate voice and data networks. Why buy, support and manage two separate networks when all you need is one?
Toll Bypass: Calls between branch offices may take advantage of existing IP network connectivity as opposed to paying for PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) calls thereby saving money by routing long-distance calls over the IP network.
No branch office PBX: The remote branch may be set up to appear as an extension to the main branch, enjoying the same voice-mail, conferencing, and desktop handsets as the central branch, but without deploying a local PBX to handle off-network calls.
Lower Start-up Costs: Deployment of new IP telephony services requires significantly lower investment in terms of time and money than in the traditional PBX environment.
Quicker ROI: Investment payback in most cases is usually achieved within 12-18 months following installation. |
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Picture 1: Henry Njoroge, MD(in white t-shirt) hands over a Kshs 50,000 cheque to Nehemiah Ndeta, Director of Kwa Watoto Childrens Centre
and school for the needy.
Picture 2: Loice Kibagendi of The Cerebral Palsy Foundation of Mombasa receives a cheque from Franklin Masinde,Marketing Manager in aid of the education campaign.
Picture 3: Evans Njoro, CEO of Junior Achievement hands Joseph Mwaura, UUNET Account Manager the trophy for the 'Most Innovative Company' in recognition of UUNET Kenya's efforts in raising funds. Junior Achievement is a non-profit organisation that aids secondary school students in making career choices.
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During the past month, UUNET Namibia has not only contributed to local events but given something back to its esteemed clients. Kicking off the year-end cycle of events, UUNET Namibia hosted an evening Sundowner Event for its Top 30 clients, a as demonstration of our appreciation for being viewed as the Internet Business Solution of choice for our customer. The event was held at the Heinitzburg Hotel, which was made available for the evening by Mrs. Beate Raith and overlooks most of Windhoek city’s skylights. Clients were welcomed with an interesting cocktail and had the opportunity to meet Werner Kriessbach (MD of UUNET Namibia), Guy Clarke (Director of Africa Operations, UUNET SA) and their respective Corporate Account Managers (Antje Engling, Sarel de Waal and John D’Alton). Both Mr. Kriessbach and Clarke thanked the clientele for their attendance at the event and business support during the year, after which the Heinitzburg Hotel presented a selection of fine foods.
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UUNET Namibia further continued its valuable return of support to the annual and internationally famous Tour de Windhoek, a cycle event this year covering approximately 390km over 6 stages. UUNET Namibia was co-sponsors with Radio Wave 96.7fm and Geo Business Solutions. This local Tour is certainly well appreciated by hardened riders, which consisted of participants from both Namibia and South Africa.
The expected team from Germany where unable to attend this year, however this did not dampen the spirits of Ronaldo Swartz, the tournament winner. The tour began on Wednesday, 13th of October and reached an adrenaline-high end on Saturday the 16th. UUNET Namibia presented a ‘UUNET Sprint Jersey’ to the winner of each the Sprint Section during each stage of the event. The routes were well planned and the weather was favourable, leaving the riders exhausted due to all the sunshine and windy conditions, however they certainly showed their determination by pushing through to the end.
UUNET Namibia also had personal presence through Mr. Kriessbach (MD of UUNET Namibia) and John D’Alton (Corporate Account Manager) who also assisted in the prize giving at the various stages.
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 UUNET Namibia is now continuing its year-end arrangements by further hosting two more events this year.
The first of these events, The Coastal Event, is our penultimate customer event and will take place on the 10th of November 2004 in Walvis Bay. This event will be used to personally thank the coastal clients for their support during the 2004 business year. The stage will be set at the Pelican Bay Hotel, which overlooks Walvis Bay Lagoon. With the upcoming Board Meeting being held in Walvis Bay as well, we look forward to possibly seeing some of the board members attending this event, if they have time to spare in Namibia’s wide open spaces.
The second event is a final client year-end function for all customers on the 24th of November 2004 in Windhoek again. The plans are currently being finalised but it seems that the venue will be at the Moringa Room, at the Kalahari Sands Hotel in the centre of Windhoek.
UUNET Namibia is also expecting guests from UUNET SA i.e. Guy Clarke (Director of Africa Operations) and Dirk de Jongh (Sales Manager). It is always such a welcome sight to see the South African operational members showing their support of our local team and customers. |
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 UUNET Namibia has undergone some incredible challenges this year, however the company’s commitment to its staff has always been one of its highest priorities. As part of this commitment to our internal culture and spirit, staff members (including partners) were all invited to spend the weekend relaxing relaxing, during a company fishing trip to Henties Bay.
All the required fishing gear was kindly arranged by 3 members of the Damaraland and Kaokoveld 4 x 4 & Quad Safaris. They not only fitted the gear, bait and even cast in for those who weren’t completely used to fishing, but thanks to their guidance and advice by the end of the day; they turned our team into great fisherman.
Sarel de Waal (Corporate Account Manager), who has never fished before, was one of the first people to reel in a catch, which turned out to be the biggest for the day. Werner Kriessbach (MD) brought in another but at the shame of hardly being a fish-finger in size (pardon the pun).
At the end of the day, only 3 fish were caught of which 2 a good enough size to bring back home. Our evenings were spent enjoying the open skies and good friends over a traditional ‘braai’ at Eagles Holiday Flats. On Sunday, everyone returned home to start afresh on Monday. Those who were not in a rush to get back played a round of golf in Swakopmund. After the fun that was had, everyone was begging for a bit of holiday to recuperate from the weekend. Thanks to UUNET for putting its staff at the top of the priority list. This is just another way the company demonstrates its commitment to succeed.
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Communications Authority Celebrates its 10th Year Anniversary
