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Appendix 24. UbuntuNet

by Duncan Martin

February 2008

Formation of the UbuntuNet Alliance:

Established and emerging NRENs (National Research and Education Networks) in Kenya,

Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa32 came together in the latter half of 2005 to

found a new regional research and education network: the UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and

Education Networking.

The UbuntuNet Alliance is driven by a vision of securing high

bandwidth connections - gigabits instead of the current kilobits per second ­ at affordable prices,

that connect African NRENs to each other, to other NRENs worldwide, and to the Internet

generally.

Historically, for various reasons, bandwidth to African Universities costs many times what

Universities elsewhere expect to pay. At the launch of the UbuntuNet Alliance in November

2005 in Tunis, Professor Bjorn Pehrson of the KTH in Stockholm said, "The Universities of

Africa are now making an entirely reasonable appeal, namely to have the same connectivity with

global research networks and the Internet as is enjoyed by Universities in every other continent."

Prof. Pehrson is a key adviser to the UbuntuNet Board.

This article explains the factors that gave rise to the formation of the UbunutNet Alliance and

give hope that it can success in its mission.

Background:

The two most important developments for securing improved Internet access for universities and

research institutions in sub-Saharan Africa are the increased tempo at which optical fibre

communications networks are being deployed, and the rapid emergence of National Research and

Education Networks (NRENs) as the organizational vehicles for inter-institutional collaboration.

Major drivers of new fibre deployments include the amazing uptake of mobile telephony and the

needs of the mobile operators for backbone connectivity; the deployment of optical fibre by

electrical power companies as they upgrade and extend the power grid; and, in many countries,

removal of the restrictive regulations that enforced the monopoly of the historical incumbent

operators.

The NRENs of Europe are the prototypes for collaborative networking between and for

universities and research institutions.  Most of them receive substantial funding from their

national governments. Some are governmental bodies staffed by civil servants, but many are

structured as non-governmental associations of member institutions, with government officials

participating in, but not controlling the governance processes.

NRENs are non-profit organizations characterised by:

1.

Their national character;

32

The founding Representative Members and Directors of the UbuntuNet Alliance are Victor Kyalo of

KENET, Kenya; Margaret Ngwira of MAREN, Malawi; Américo Muchanga of MoRENet, Mozambique;

Albert Nsengiyumva of RwEdNet, Rwanda; and Duncan Martin of TENET, South Africa.

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