Global Reproductive Health IT Support list

["Jim Fennessey" <jfennessey AT jhpiego.net>]

Hi GRHITS folks ...

We too are working to improve connectivity in Ethiopia and elsewhere.
We've done some investigation of satellite links, and in fact have
installed an iWay link successfully in one African country.

In addition to satellite cost (which may be 2000 - 3500 USD per month),
there's also the question of satellite licensing from the government,
which I hear is difficult in Ethiopia.  The basic problem everywhere in
Africa is the overall bandwidth shortage, and the government monopoly in
many countries.  But we can make things somewhat better by collecting
and sharing information ... A KM strategy right in our own work area!

Out approach at JHPIEGO has been to follow a two-pronged strategy: (1)
collect systematic throughput data (especially upload speeds) and then
negotiate with ISPs based on that; (2) share information about actual
experiences, and collaborate on ISP arrangements, with other NGOs at the
city level. Hopefully, if the various NGOs in Addis Ababa were to
approach USAID and also the Ethiopian ISP agency as a group, things
would improve.  

To measure throughput speeds, we are using the http://www.testmy.net
service.  This service provides upload testing as well as download
testing, and maintains the results in an online database that can be
exported to a CSV file.  It's free and easy to set up in a country
office.

To promote sharing, we're currently seeking more specific information
about NGO service agreements and monitoring of actual experience in
Addis Ababa.  We would very much like to share our connectivity
experiences with Intrah and any other NGOs, especially health NGOs,
having an office in Addis Ababa ... Or in other major African cities

Also, we're considering creating an online shared list of connectivity
arrangements, city by city.  If your organization has offices in major
African cities, please reply to this posting.  If several organizations
are willing to contribute to an online "connectivity status" tracking
site, then the site will have real value for each contributor ... The
whole will be greater than the sum of the parts. We're quite interested
in setting up such a site, and have had preliminary conversations along
this line with some members of NPOKI, and with IBP-WHO  Such a site,
though simple to create, would make a real difference, and JHPIEGO could
serve as the initial host if needed.

If you have information to share, or are interested in future sharing,
please reply to this posting.

Thanks!

Jim

 

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Today's Topics:

   1. Ethiopia Connectivity [revisited] (Jojo Almario)
   2. Re: Ethiopia Connectivity [revisited] (Tiamiyou Radji)


----------------------------------------------------------------------

Message: 1
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:29:12 -0500
From: "Jojo Almario" <jalmario AT intrahealth.org>
Subject: [grhits] Ethiopia Connectivity [revisited]
To: "Global Reproductive Health IT Support list"
        <grhits AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
        
<74701F15E7DAD14392BB66076F8FDF5203F0F9E5 AT ihexch01.intrahealth.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

I seem to re-call that we had some discussion about this topic a couple
of months ago.  Has anyone else come up with any enlightenment on this
issue?  It appears that the connection that we have in our Ethiopia
office is only 5% of what we purchased.  Does everyone else experience
this kind of bandwidth loss?

 

 

 

 

 

JoJo Almario

IT support

Intrahealth International inc.

919-313-9130

jalmario AT intrahealth.org

 

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Message: 2
Date: Fri, 19 Jan 2007 14:24:50 -0000
From: "Tiamiyou Radji" <TRadji AT aware-rh.org>
Subject: Re: [grhits] Ethiopia Connectivity [revisited]
To: "Global Reproductive Health IT Support list"
        <grhits AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Message-ID:
        <D6DE20682889DE4BBC825756A1AC0FA3111475 AT Exchaware.egdh.org>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

Hi Jojo,

 

You are right. The quality of the connectivity in the Ethiopia office (
..and generally other service dependents) is very poor. This is mainly
because there is only one service provider  ( government owned) on whom
everyone else relies for Internet access. I understand that an
alternative way would be through a private satellite link ...which I
have been told is very expensive. I plan to follow up on this just to
know how expensive it is.

 

I will share out once I get any information.

 

Denis

 

 

________________________________

From: grhits-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org
[mailto:grhits-bounces AT lists.ibiblio.org] On Behalf Of Jojo Almario
Sent: Friday, January 19, 2007 1:29 PM
To: Global Reproductive Health IT Support list
Subject: [grhits] Ethiopia Connectivity [revisited]

 

I seem to re-call that we had some discussion about this topic a couple
of months ago.  Has anyone else come up with any enlightenment on this
issue?  It appears that the connection that we have in our Ethiopia
office is only 5% of what we purchased.  Does everyone else experience
this kind of bandwidth loss?

 

 

 

 

 

JoJo Almario

IT support

Intrahealth International inc.

919-313-9130

jalmario AT intrahealth.org

 

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