From Philadelphia to Philadelphia: UbuntuNet Alliance F F “Tusu” Tusubira,

Contents The Beginning.. The Alliance Today Current Operations Sustainability Fibre Opportunites mapped AfricaConnect: Filling the Regional Gaps

What we believe.. “We know that we have it in ourselves as Africans, to change all this [the challenges we face]. We must assert our will to do so. We must say there is no obstacle big enough to stop us from bringing about an African renaissance.”...Nelson Mandela

The beginning.. Mid 2005: High cost of access; Availability of terrestrial fibre; EASSy cable plans: catalysts Embryonic/ developing NRENs in 5 countries (KENET, MAREN, MoRENet, RwEdNet, TENET) Side meeting of Africans and Friends (Chaired by Steve Song; supported by PHEA and IDRC): RREN Mooted Informal chat among African pioneers in the lobby, Duncan Martin of TENET mooted the name “Ubuntu” UbuntuNet Alliance Incorporated in March 2006.

The Alliance Today DRC EthERNet, Ethiopia iRENALA, Mozambique *KENET, Kenya *MAREN, Malawi *MoRENet, Mozambique XNet, Namibia *RwEdNet, Rwanda SomaliREN, Somalia SudREN, Sudan Southern Sudan (de facto) *TENET, South Africa TERNET, Tanzania RENU, Uganda ZAMREN, Zambia Alliance Membership (14)

Current Operations UbuntuNet, London Internet UbuntuNet, Mtunzini LINX GÉANT AMS-IX UbuntuNet, Amsterdam MoRENet KENET TENET TERNET ZAMREN 10Gbps, SEACOM 5Gbps, WACS

HartRAO to JIVE light path 2 Gbps light path Transfers e-VLBI data in real time HartRAO (Hartebeesthoek Radio-Astronomy Observatory, South Africa) JIVE: (e-VLBI Dataprocessing at Zwingeloo, Netherlands) UbuntuNet Géant+ TENET SurfNet HartRAO SurfNet

Financial Sustainability: A Key Principle

Fibre opportunities mapped..

SLIDE 10 The Research and Education Network for sub-Saharan Africa AfricaConnect: Filling part of the regional connectivity gap

SLIDE 11 The Research and Education Network for sub-Saharan Africa AfricaConnect: Filling part of the regional connectivity gap Lusaka Blantyre Nairobi Mombasa Dar es Salaam Kampala Kigali Maputo Mtunzini Windhoek Kinshasa Terrestrial Ring: Nairobi  Kampala  Kigali  Dar Backbone Ring: Nairobi  Dar  Maputo  Mtunzini Backbone: Windhoek  Mtunzini Backbone: Kinshasa  Mtunzini. Khartoum Cape Town

SLIDE 12 The Research and Education Network for sub-Saharan Africa AfricaConnect: Contractual Arrangements UbuntuNet Member NRENs....

SLIDE 13 The Research and Education Network for sub-Saharan Africa AfricaConnect: Financing NRENs must come up with €2.8 million Each NREN asked to commit to €280k Treated as advance payments for services to be rendered by UbuntuNet Incentive: dicsounted prices for those who pay in advance

To Our Many Friend: PHEA, IDRC, OSISA, FRENIA (ANDREW MELLON), USAID, IEEAF, EUC, AAU, Cisco, SEACOM, NSRC.. We say: Asante Sana! Murakoze! Zikomo Kwambili! Natondio Mingi! Thank you! Merci Beaucoup! “When the webs of a spider combine, they can trap a lion” – Ethiopian proverb