The Bandwidth Consortium: Opening the Power of the Internet to African Universities
Overview
With support from four major U.S. foundations, and in collaboration with the African Virtual University (AVU), a coalition of 11 African universities and two higher education organizations arrived at an agreement with the satellite service provider, Intelsat, to bring vastly expanded Internet bandwidth capacity and capability, at approximately one-third the cost, to academic institutions on the continent.
The new service, available since the end of 2005, is the result of a three-year-long effort by these 13 institutions to assess their Internet requirements and the technical capacity necessary to manage bandwidth provided in bulk by satellite. The service started with the coalition members, but is designed to allow many others to join over time.
The 2007 members of the Bandwidth Consortium supported by the Partnership are:
- University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
- Makerere University (Uganda)
- University of Ghana (Ghana)
- University of Education, Winneba (Ghana)
- University of Ibadan (Nigeria)
- Obafemi Awolowo University (Nigeria)
- Ahmadu Bello University (Nigeria)
- Bayero University (Nigeria)
- Port Harcourt University (Nigeria)
- University of Jos (Nigeria)
- Association of African Universities (Ghana)
- Kenya Education Network (Kenya)
Bandwidth capacity is what governs the speed at which information can be uploaded and downloaded from the Internet. The contract with Intelsat will provide access to 93,000 Kilobits per second of bandwidth (Kbps) each month. As recently as two years ago, the total bandwidth available to these institutions was 12,000 Kbps. The unit cost per Kbps has dropped from an average of $7.30 per Kbps per month for the African universities to $2.33.
Since the consortium’s launch, 18 additional universities and research institutions have begun purchasing bandwidth through the consortium, some self-funded and others funded by donors, including the AVU headquarters. With the addition of these sites, the consortium is purchasing a total of 104.5 Mbps of bandwidth.
About the Bandwidth Consortium
The Bandwidth Consortium is a major collaborative project of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, an initiative that began in 2000 to build on momentum within Africa to revitalize institutions of higher education. The foundations -- initially Ford, MacArthur, Rockefeller, and Carnegie Corporation of New York -- invested more than $150 million in Partnership projects as of September 2005. Over the next five years the foundations, now joined by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Kresge Foundation will invest an additional $200 million.
Bandwidth is a major expense for African universities, with service currently provided by a patchwork of providers. According to a report prepared by the Bandwidth Consortium of the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa, consumers in Europe and North America typically pay $100 a month for far more bandwidth than African universities obtain for $10,000 per month. In all but a handful of African countries, less than two percent of the population is online.
The University of Dar es Salaam coordinated a team of African university representatives to conduct the research that served as the blueprint for the consortium. The AVU in collaboration with consortium members coordinated additional planning and negotiations with Intelsat.
AVU, the Bandwidth Consortium's original host institution, is an organization skilled in providing satellite-based distance learning education through its centers around Africa. The Partnership identified AVU as the institution to manage this complex project based on its proven skills in researching options and in negotiating and purchasing satellite-based bandwidth on behalf of geographically dispersed educational institutions. The Bandwidth Consortium is currently hosted by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC), a Canadian Crown corporation that works in close collaboration with researchers from the developing world in their search for the means to build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies.
Comments on the Bandwidth Initiative
Mamman Aminu Ibrahim, Convenor of the Nigeria ICT Forum of Partnership Institutions:
"When African universities have the capacity to connect with the Internet at speeds approaching those available to others around the world, we will have taken one of the most important steps possible in our efforts to become a full member of the world’s academic community. This is technology that is central to the transformation of higher education in Africa."
Dr. Francis F. Tusubira, Associate Professor and Director, Directorate for ICT Support at Makerere University:
"As dramatic as this change will be, the universities recognize that bandwidth delivered by satellite is only part of what the future will bring. The long-term and sustainable approach has to be connection to the international fiber optic cable networks or other future solutions. University members of the partnership universities will continue working with their governments to develop national policies and strategies that promote and ensure increased and affordable access to the Internet, based always on the best technologies."
Websites
African Virtual University: http://www.avu.org
Partnership for Higher Education in Africa: http://www.foundation-partnership.org
Association of African Universities: http://www.aau.org
Bayero University: http://www.kanoonline.com/buk/default.htm
Kenya Education Network: http://www.kenet.or.ke
Makerere University: http://www.makerere.ac.ug
Nigeria ICT Forum of Partnership Institutions: http://www.forum.org.ng
Obafemi Awolowo University: http://www.oauife.edu.ng
University of Dar es Salaam: http://www.udsm.ac.tz
University of Education Winneba: http://www.uewghana.org/
University of Ghana: http://www.ug.edu.gh
University of Ibadan: http://www.ui.edu.ng/
University of Port Harcourt: http://www.uniport.edu.ng
Contacts
For the African Virtual University: Sandra Aluoch, +254 722 594 579
For the Partnership on Higher Education in Africa: John Schoneboom, +1-212-998-5514
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