ISP's Using Eassy?

[hambone]

I've been digging around MyBB and have found that EASSy is in commercial operation for some time now. The coverage of this has been somewhat vague (possibly due to NDA's etc) and I was wondering if any of you kind folk know if any of the ISP's are using it yet? Possibly some of the investors like Voda/MTN?

 

[grok]

They don't wanna say in case it leads to more competition & you know how that infringes on their luxury lifestyles.

 

[Gordon_R]

If you look at it from an economic point of view, there is now an 'oversupply' of international cables. In the USA it took many years for demand to catch up with the 'dot-com bubble' of the late-1990's, when millions were spent on infrastructure, which is only now being fully utilised a decade later:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dot-com_bubble

Unless they are offering something substantial that other cables aren't (marginally cheaper prices don't count), there is no reason why an ISP would switch their newly-signed contracts with the (now) rock-solid SEACOM. Don't expect any major public announcements IMO.

 

[HavocXphere]

Unless they are offering something substantial that other cables aren't (marginally cheaper prices don't count),.

More redundancy.

No I reckon we won't run oversupply problems in SA. The price will just have to crash. i.e. The cable ppl will be in a tough position, not customers (i.e. Sell dirt cheap & recover costs or let it sit idle).

ISP would switch their newly-signed contracts with the (now) rock-solid SEACOM. Don't expect any major public announcements IMO.

True. It might absorb additional growth tough.

 

[Gordon_R]

More redundancy.

No I reckon we won't run oversupply problems in SA. The price will just have to crash. i.e. The cable ppl will be in a tough position, not customers (i.e. Sell dirt cheap & recover costs or let it sit idle).

True. It might absorb additional growth tough.

I agree that redundancy is important, bu EASSy runs up the east coast, so it doesn't offer a true alternative to SEACOM (both run through Mtunzini and the Suez Canal area). WACS should provide a better option when it comes online (2011?)

SA has an oversupply on international cables (too many built at the same time!) At the same time there is not enough competition on domestic cables and local-loop. At present EASSy is much more important for East African countries. It also possible that local ISP's are waiting for the cable ppl to 'feel the pain' before they negotiate...

All these projects take a long time to be tested (remember SEACOM's teething problems!) Signing long-term contracts and peering agreements requires careful planning. Its not like plugging in a light-bulb - more like a nuclear power station!

Edit: I don't want to post further off-topic on this thread, but the consequences of the major outage in the Mediterranean in 2008 are covered in the Wikipedia article on the SEA-ME-WE-4 cable: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEA-ME-WE_4

Edit #2: MWeb's complete international failure today (Wed 17th) is exactly the kind of event I was envisaging. Two routes to Mtunzini both failed. Result - no traffic whatsoever...

 

[Mike Hoxbig]

I agree that redundancy is important, bu EASSy runs up the east coast, so it doesn't offer a true alternative to SEACOM (both run through Mtunzini and the Suez Canal area). WACS should provide a better option when it comes online (2011?)

SA has an oversupply on international cables (too many built at the same time!) At the same time there is not enough competition on domestic cables and local-loop. At present EASSy is much more important for East African countries. It also possible that local ISP's are waiting for the cable ppl to 'feel the pain' before they negotiate...

All these projects take a long time to be tested (remember SEACOM's teething problems!) Signing long-term contracts and peering agreements requires careful planning. Its not like plugging in a light-bulb - more like a nuclear power station!

Redundancy isn't dependent on the path taken by the cable though.

 

[Rosaudio]

Redundancy isn't dependent on the path taken by the cable though.

You're right, but latency is

 

[HavocXphere]

I reckon from a consumer perspective there is no such thing as oversupply of cables.

Redundancy isn't dependent on the path taken by the cable though.

He's not that far off the mark. If a ship is trailing an anchor its more likely to take out cables next to each other. Remember those 3 breaks they had all in the same week in the Mediterranean?