AW: [governance] Consensus Call for CSTD IGF Questionnaire -

[Jean-Louis FULLSACK]

I'm not sure if you really understood my opinion about the "waste", dear Fatimata. 

As a telecoms Engineer with more than forty years of experience and medium to highest responsibilities from network design to network operation through financing, in France, Europe and Africa, I fairly know what is at stake in this continent and what are the resources -financial, economic and human- available to face the heavy challenges i.a. in the telecoms sector.

IMHO when you have about one dozen cables along the same route, where let's say three ones -perfectly engineered and operated-could face the traffic flow up to 2015, there is at least a big waste of money. Instead of wasting money for "competing" rather than for "carrying traffic" we could spend these saved resources in building a regional telecoms network interlinking the capitals (both economical and political) as well a the major network nodes, and link this network in a reliable and survivable topology and architecture to the selected landing stations. This is the very model of a regional network, which is to be replicated in every region (of the five ones) of the continent. 

And for being more concrete : for the ECOWAS Region you'd just need a part of the money wasted in extra redundant submarine cables, for completing existing OF cables (as far as they are on the relevant route and quality compliant for being a segment of the regional backbone) as to build the ECOWAS Backbone network. This is an explanation of my statement. 

I hope that there is not anymore a misunderstanding between us.

Best regards
Jean-Louis Fullsack
Ex ITU Project leader of IntelCom I, the ECOWAS first interconnection network (mostly microwave, some cables and a dozen or so Satellite Earth Stations, including gateway exchanges and switches), 1980-1984. With my grateful and fiendliest memories to my colleagues and friends from ECOWAS : Yao (Côte d'Ivoire) and Pobi (Ghana) ... if they happen to read these lines! 



> Message du 20/11/10 10:37
> De : "Fatimata Seye Sylla" 
> A : governance at lists.cpsr.org, "McTim" 
> Copie à : "Jean-Louis FULLSACK" , "Baudouin SCHOMBE" 
> Objet : Re: AW: [governance] Consensus Call for CSTD IGF Questionnaire -
> 
> Thank you Jean-Louis for making the point about the specific needs for Africa.  You are right.   We need to participate to the IG policy but without appropriate access to internet, it will be very difficult to do so.  The investment being made to put the right infrastructure in place is necessary for African development and can't be considered as a waste.  I completely agree wiith the answers provided by McTim on the subject.  Again, access is a major issue for Africa.
> 
> Fatimata
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 7:52 PM, McTim  wrote:
> 
> 
> On Fri, Nov 19, 2010 at 7:05 PM, Jean-Louis FULLSACK  wrote:
> 
> > And what are 12 submarine cables along the African coasts doing for
> > exchanging coms in Central Africa for instance ? Who is caring about that
> > waste of money (some 7 billions dollars) ?
> 
> Landing those cables is a big step, it took many years.  Once coastal connectivity is established, inland fiber comes quite quickly due to commercial pressure.
> 
> Why is it a waste of money? It's mostly international investors who believe they will get a return. I doubt they see this as "waste".  
> 
> There are 15 cables that land in the NYC metro area, Shouldn't Africa's Billion people have the same access as New Yorkers? 
> 
> 
> > We aren't far from Internet governance when we are speaking of such issues :
> > for Internet to be "governed" correctly it first of all needs to be 
> > implemented ! I.e. there must be relevant traffic nodes (exchanges, GIX,
> > PoP, ...) and a resilient network for interconnecting them on the continent
> 
> These are being built (and in some cases operational).
> 
> > ! In Africa, IG is first of all about the topology of the continental
> > backbone, i.e. the location of IXPs, GIXes and PoPs for holding the "
> > domestic African" traffic wthin the continent and useing the shortest or
> > most economical links.
> 
> Without the cables you decry, the shortest and cheapest route would often be overseas and back. 
> 
> 
>  This topology needs a relevant Internet architecture
> > : here IG is to be at work ! Moreover, the insertion of Africa in the
> > international traffic flow needs selected landing stations (and satellite
> > hubs) to be the gateway stations to the global optical fiber routes that
> > really connects Africa to the World. 
> 
> We have these.
> 
> 
> -- 
> Cheers,
> 
> McTim
> "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there."  Jon Postel
> 
> 
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> -- 
> Fatimata Seye Sylla
> 
>       
> 
>
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