Eric M.K Osiakwan Internet Research An innovative Internet access solution for schools and corporations in under-served communities Internet access for any school anywhere is the goal!

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Eric M.K OsiakwanInternet ResearchAn
innovative Internet access solution for schools
and corporations in under-served communities
Internet access for any school anywhere is the
goal!
Javelin!
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Presentation Objective

• Proposal for sending Internet to any school
  anywhere in poor infrastructure Africa

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The Challenge

• Access to the net is a must-have
• Lack of telecom infrastructure and last-mile
  solutions are tough challenges for African
  schools and corporates
• Lack of funds (or lack of business case for
  funds)
• Building infrastructure is time-consuming
• Geographical barriers abound in providing
  nation-wide access
• Human capital is almost zero

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• More than 20 WAN companies
• Backbone Voltacom, GT
• Wireless access methods mostly 2.4G centered in
  Accra, Kumasi
• Lastmile monthly cost for dedicated access
  range from 300 - 1,800
• Narrowband over Cu is very poor

Credit - VRA
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The Quandary
Businesses growth hampered, economies cannot
create adequate wealth.
Lack of funds.
Inability to create centralised/distributed/remote
access computing for point-of-sale systems,
information bureau and clearing systems,
credit/debit systems, on-line banking, Internet
access.
Poor or non-existent telecom infrastructure.
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the Challenge

• Provide Internet access solution to schools and
  corporations that adequately address all the
  following issues
• Deployed very rapidly
• Must have no geographical barriers
• Must be very reliable
• Must be available always
• Must provide a reasonably good access speed
• Inexpensive

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Arrows Javelin

• Use Racoms Morse wireless technology to provide
  links
• MR25 for remote schools all locations
  reachable, but slow
• MR900 and other broadband solutions for
  inner-city
• Email
• Web based mail interface using local server
• Fetch hotmail and yahoo! into local student
  accounts
• Web
• Mirror as many sites as possible on the local
  server
• Automate mirroring requests from the schools
• Enable caching for sites not mirrored
• Use www4mail_at_ictp in Italy for web searches
• Create www4mail_at_arrownetworks.net in future

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How Does It Work?
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How Does It Work?

• Access to the net is mediated by the local
  server via mirroring and caching
• Local server updates web pages at nite
• Mirroring process runs forever digging deep into
  sites to mirror sub-links. Sites are available
  during the process.
• Direct access is automatically invoked if both
  mirror and cache fail. Missing internal mirror
  link generates error.
• Mails are posted and received through a local
  mail box using a web interface
• Hotmail, yahoo! etc fetched into local mail box
• Web sites could be 24 hours late, mails are
  fairly recent

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A brief on the telecom technology
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the technology

• Racom for 12 years used it for transaction
  processing in Czech Republic, Austria, Slovak,
  China, Russia, Norway
• We have used it to create the biggest WAN in
  Ghana for transaction processing
• The radio uses licensed UHF frequencies, minimal
  line
• of sight, long range 110km achieved so far
• Meshed topology greatly enhances reliability
• Comes standard with both serial and Ethernet IP
  ports
• Radio, modem, router, protocol converter in tight
  knit
• Non-line of sight 9.6 128kbps data rate

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Down/Up sides of Javelin!

• Down side
• Web pages likely to be late
• Limited direct access to the net
• Annoyingly slow if you have to use MR25 directly
• Up side
• What is the alternative of zero access?
• Limited direct net access may enhance control of
  students
• Schools may not require up-to-date sites for
  education. Local server can be recharged at a
  nearby school
• Inexpensive access
• Speed of deployment to any school anywhere in the
  country
• Solution is scalable to higher transmission
  speeds

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www.racom.cz
www.arrownetworks.net
Questions?contactinfo_at_arrownetworks.netfax
233-21-238038
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How much does it cost?

• Hardware required
• Radio transceiver
• Modem
• Router
• Antenna and cabling
• Note the above are integrated, hence the low cost
• Local mirror and cache server
• Were presently able to put the hardware together
  for 3k
• Expect price to be lower for multiple sites
• Running cost components
• Link maintenance
• Server, system administration and system
  development
• We hope to charge 50 a month anywhere in the
  country (compare with existing 300-1,800 a
  month)