EReadiness:Internet/Telecoms Infrastructure

From NGOPedia

EReadiness:Self Assessment Tool for NGOs

EReadiness:Technology Infrastructure EReadiness:Computer Infrastructure EReadiness:Network Infrastructure EReadiness:Internet/Telecoms Infrastructure

Index

The biggest (but, in Africa, typically also the most difficult and expensive) ICT infrastructural payoff, comes from having access to the internet. Being able to communicate electronically with stakeholders and similar organisations as well as being able to tap into the wealth of useful information available on the internet, is often the ultimate payback and operational enabler of ICT investments. However, this is also the area where NGOs in Africa experience the so-called digital divide most acutely.

Internet access is typically much more expensive in Africa than anywhere else in the world – in the order of up to 100 times more than in Asia or the US. Even more problematic is that many rural areas simply do not have ANY affordable internet access options. Luckily, more and more cell phone companies are providing a wireless internet option which may be affordable for low-bandwidth applications. Currently heavy investments are being made to give the continent as a whole much more and cheaper access to the internet by dramatically increasing undersea cable capacity. Finally, there are also some exciting moves to provide affordable satellite internet access in the medium term.

You need to make sound decisions while the internet access is still expensive. We advise you not to go into long term contracts with vendors for little savings. Just be on the look out for options as they develop.

Answers/Scenarios	Level	Yes
We do not have direct access to e-mail or the internet from within the organisation.	1
We tried to buy a copy of the internet but apparently it does not fit on our computer.	1
We use a fixed telephone line dial-up connection using a modem	2
We have an ISDN line.	3
We have a DSL connection (e.g. ADSL).	3
Other (e.g. WiMax or satellite).	3
We use mobile connection such as GPRS (level 1) or 3G.	3
We have a dedicated leased data line	4

Level 1: Non-existent or Basic Internet/Telcom Infrastructure

Description	Yes	No
Our organisation is not linked to the internet.
Some staff occasionally make use of publicly available internet facilities (library, computer centre, internet café, cyber café) for personal purposes and, sometimes, use their personal (home) internet facilities for organisational purposes

Actions	Not Possible (give a reason why)	Possible (tick where applicable)
		Short Term	Medium Term	Long Term
Before deciding, it will be necessary to compare the availability, the pricing and the performance of a fixed telephone line dial-up with a fixed line DSL connection and with any wireless options that are available (2.5G or 3G). Unfortunately, in many areas across Africa, especially in rural areas, you may have none or only one option (but check carefully with your cell phone providers). In fact, in some areas the only viable option may even be an expensive satellite connection, although there are moves underfoot to make this a much more viable option
Unless you have some prior internet experience and knowledge of local options, you are likely to need some technical assistance with this. It is also quite important to speak to users (or organisations) that have internet connectivity and ask for their advice.
Collect some information on Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and check their offers: How much does the initial connection (installation) cost? What is the monthly subscription fee? How much data can you download? Do you get e-mail addresses (and how many)? Do you get web space (good for a temporary or trial NGO website)? What type of support is available? Do they provide the modem (to connect to the internet)? Is there a minimum contract period?
Find some help to fix problems that arise over time, e.g. with system upgrades.
If you are in a metropolitan area and can obtain a reasonably priced ADSL connection, you should be able to skip level 2 and move straight up to level 3.

Level 2: Early Stages of Having Internet/Telcom Infrastructure

Description	Yes	No
The organisation has non-permanent low-bandwidth internet access from one computer or a reasonably advanced mobile phone, or by means of an account with a nearby and easily accessible internet café.
Typically this is by means of a dial-up modem although a wireless GPRS-enabled mobile phone can also be used. The limited bandwidth is used to down/upload e-mail and do some directed web-browsing.
Internet access is limited to one or a few key staff members who typically have at most one (or very few) relatively short internet sessions per day.

When moving up to a permanent internet connection with access from multiple computers it is useful to:

Actions	Not Possible (give a reason why)	Possible (tick where applicable)
		Short Term	Medium Term	Long Term
Conduct an informal user needs analysis within the organisation to assess which users need e-mail and internet access and their anticipated bandwidth requirements.
Investigate the various local options available for internet which typically range from: Dial-up modem ISDN ADSL Wireless 2.5G/3G (not all of these may be available across Africa and in rural areas). The key selection criteria should be: Monthly subscription cost ISP reliability Quality of telephonic customer support Contract lock-in periods (see above).
Check that your ISP will provide you with a number of e-mail accounts since one single account is likely to be insufficient for an NGO.
Another decision which is very important (and a relatively recent trend) is to consider housing all required servers within a single or two powerful physical computers by means of virtualisation software. This eases management and may reduce costs. Note: A detailed discussion of these options is beyond the scope of this document.

Level 3: Internmediate Stage of Having Internet/Telcom Infrastructure

Description	Yes	No
Your organisation has a permanent internet link, normally using a broadband access method or in the case of a remote rural NGO, at least a semi-permanent connection to the internet.
Via the LAN, a fair number of the network computers share this internet access, although some types of internet traffic may be blocked.
A firewall has been installed for secure incoming traffic but possibly also to restrict certain types of outgoing traffic.

Actions	Not Possible (give a reason why)	Possible (tick where applicable)
		Short Term	Medium Term	Long Term
Consider moving to a higher bandwidth internet connection. This requires a careful and formal analysis of current and future bandwidth requirements
Calculate the financial burden of moving to a higher bandwidth as well. Rural and small NGOs are unlikely to need to move to the next level.

Level 4: Advanced Stage of Having Internet/Telcom Infrastructure

Description	Yes	No
Our organisation has a sophisticated and high-bandwidth internet connection, e.g. ADSL or 3G wireless.
Ideally there is a backup option of either using two internet service providers (ISPs) or of having an emergency dial-up modem or wireless connection.
Our NGO monitors its bandwidth utilisation and possibly implements packet shaping and traffic prioritisation.
We use a caching/proxy server (If the organisation is fairly large, it is likely to have its own mail server and, possibly, web server.)
Internet security is in place; firewall, internet virus protection, password management and policies (e.g. enforcing strong passwords that needed to be changed every three months) are in place.