Free local proxy service launched
ZA-Portal has launched a free local proxy service which allows local broadband users access to international online resources using local-only bandwidth. (The full list of proxy servers are listed on MyBroadband http://mybroadband.co.za/vb/showthread.php?p=2912424).
The man behind the free proxy service is Zaine [surname left out for privacy reasons], a Systems Administrator for a local company. According to Zaine the differential pricing for local and international bandwidth was behind his drive to launch this service.
“I started the site due to the fact that local bandwidth is much cheaper than international bandwidth. We do not find an offering anywhere that gives us 30GB of international bandwidth, but we do get a lot of companies offering 30 GB of local bandwidth at a competitive price,” said Zaine.
Questions have however been raised about the sustainability of a free proxy service like ZA-Portal. The service is currently funded privately through other hosting business ventures and a few donations, a business model which may not provide a stable income to fund the high demand for international bandwidth.
Despite the financial challenges Zaine is confident that the service is here to stay. “So far the service has been active for two months whereas previous users who tried only lasted a few weeks,” said Zaine. “I am to keep the service up until date pricing starts to drop and it becomes affordable to all users.”
Zaine is also planning to generate advertising revenue on their website by “adding local companies’ banners” and added that they may receive a sponsorship for full server racks.
According to Zaine bulk bandwidth discounts help to keep the boat afloat. “Since I use large bulks of data I get quite a big discount. I buy traffic in blocks of 200 GB priced at around R 39 per GB,” explains Zaine. “So far all the sites in total – including the HTTP servers – have used 572.08 GB of traffic.”
Apart from the free proxy service Zaine is also planning a local torrent website, a local-VPN tunnel to international content servers and even a gaming portal.
Zaine however said that he could not comment on his local torrent website ZATorrent due to problems with the acceptable usage policy (AUP) of his current host. He is however searching for a new home for this website.
Free local proxy service – give your views
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