African Optical Backbone "Ring of Fire"

evilandi wrote in to send us a nifty bit from BBC Sci/Tech about Africa's Ring of Fire. Essentially its a fiber cable that will circle the continent and provide 40gbs net access all around. The cable will be laid by robotic subs and the article says it will be self healing. All this for a mere $1.2 Billion.

Comments

I'm ashamed of the /. community

[Frank Sullivan]

Right now, i feel ashamed to be a part of the /. community. I don't know which is worse: the racist stereotyping, or the illogical cost/benefit analysis. Bigotry and stupidity.

First, the racism. Not all Africans are primitives living in huts. Not all African nations are embroiled in civil war. Famines are a result of war and the resultant refugees, not poverty. Africans are not cannibals. Et cetera.

Second, the cost/benefit analysis of the undersea cable. Aren't slashdotters supposed to be technology experts who understand the value of electronic communications? Don't you think phones and the Internet are useful for something other than downloading porn and Quake betas? Africa's economic growth is hampered mostly by the lack of a modern communications infrastructure. Inexpensive bandwidth is the most critical feature of any modern economy. Until it is available throughout most of Africa, the African economies will be unable to modernize and compete with the rest of the world.

Think of Buckminster Fuller's formula: Wealth equals Energy times Information. And, as Fuller pointed out, Information can be replicated at whatever bandwidth is available, so the better the bandwidth, the more quickly wealth will increase. It really dismays me to see people saying that Africa shouldn't spend money on creating (not expanding, CREATING!) a modern communications infrastructure, because there are other pressing needs. That sounds like obsolete liberal crap to me, a guaranteed means to keep Africa broken and dependent forever. I can't think of a more pressing need than to be able to communicate freely with each other and the rest of the world.

Which reminds me... many of the more creative pseudo-intellectuals here suggest that Africa cannot get, should not get, or does not deserve a good communications infrastructure because of its corrupt governments. Think about it... what's the most effective tool for fighting government corruption and abuse yet devised? Communication! Governments cannot control widely available phones, much less the Internet. Governments that allow open communications cannot oppress effectively; governments that suppress communications will not benefit effectively from communications, and will fall behind. It worked in the USSR, and it will work in Africa.

This undersea fiber optic cable project is an incredibly useful venture, which if it succeeds will reap rewards far in excess of its initial cost. Personally, i'm thrilled for Africa.

But i'm more disappointed than ever in the supposedly intelligent, considerate, and technologically savvy denizens of Slashdot.

Link to Africa One, the company running the show

[evilandi]

Africa One are the company running the show. Their site has some reasonably detailed technical and geographical info, but is a bit short on where exactly they are going to get US$1.2bn from.

I think it's a great idea but I have a couple of worries:

• Doesn't Africa have more urgent things to spend the money on? And will the money be lost through backhanders or government mis-spending anyway?
• I really can't believe that an undersea cable is the most cost effective, neither in the short nor long term. And won't inland countries need a connection too? A network of cross-country cable or microwave links would surely be a better plan (feel free to shoot me down here on technical or geographical grounds!)

Having said that, the project could revolutionise Africa in a million and one positive ways.

--

Re:What are you talking about?

[scrytch]

I eagerly look forward to the day that Godwin's law covers Microsoft mentions on Slashdot.

It's a good thing

[WillWare]

A lot of posts are arguing that the Ring of Fire is a bad idea. I think it's a good idea, so here are some counterarguments.

• Africa is technologically backward, and doesn't deserve the technology. We should put it somewhere more progressive, where it will be appreciated, and contribute to progress. But the more developed countries have plenty of bandwidth, and will get more as time passes. The details of financing weren't clear, but there wasn't any clear evidence that this was being done at the expense of progress in the developed countries. Even if it is, on a global scale, this really isn't that much money.
• African countries have corrupt governments, which will skim the money, and the network might never even go on-line. Yes, that's a realistic danger. That risk is assumed by whoever is financing the network, and hopefully they've insured themselves against that risk.
• The problems of hunger and poverty are much more important than giving Africans the opportunity to web-surf. The money should go to organizations like CARE, UNICEF, or the Red Cross. These organizations have a perfectly appropriate short-term role. But Africa can't depend on them forever. In order to thrive, Africa needs a self-sustaining economy. which will depend on the flow of information so that buyers and sellers can find each other (advertising). The free flow of information can also help to expose abuses of human rights. In 1989, the Chinese students' movement depended heavily on fax machines to pass information around.

One thing that concerns me a little is this. On the map in the article, I notice that a lot of the network taps are in one region, around Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Gabon. Here is a map of Africa. These are already some of the wealthier, freer countries. It would be nice if there were more taps in places like Somalia and Ethiopia. Still, it's a lot better than nothing.

Re:Link to Africa One, the company running the sho

[TheMeld]

The vast majority of the human populat lives within a hundred miles or so of the coast. Africa is no exception. I suspect (no data to back it up except logic based on geographical conditions) that in Africa, the percentage within 100 miles of the coast is larger than in most other continents. Thus, while it will not provide easy access for those that live a ways inland, it will provide access for the majority of the population.

Also one might ask why they don't run the cable around the coast underground instead of undersea. I suspect this too is related to geographic constraints. Africa's coast is very rocky, and is a cliff in a lot of places. Laying an underground cable in stone is rather expensive. Also, it requires that all the governments along the coast give you permission and land to lay the cable all at once, and they have to agree on where you can lay the cable at the borders. Not exactly a fun set of negotiations I suspect, nor an easy one. If you lay the cable undersea, all you have to do is negotiate with each individual country independently where they want their link(s) to come in from the ocean.

As far as the 1,2$$,$$$,$$$ is concerned, there is a lot of money in the oil industry in Africa. I suspect that, at least indirectly, the oil industry is funding most of this, since at the very least, the oil industry is the prime source of revenue for many, if not most or all African governments.

Self healing

[Quarnage]

When I was working with broadband fiber self-healing meant the ability to dynamically reroute around a break...almost a necessity if you're going to lay it on the bottom of the ocean. If it meant that the fiber actually spliced itself back together, then that would really be something else.

Re:Self-healing fiber?

[dlb]

Well, what happens is you actually have multiple strings of physical fibre at each segment.
If there's a break somewhere, the multiplexers at each node are intelligent enough to detect the break and reroute. Even if you have a complete cut (backhoe, submarine, bomb, etc) at one side, data can be routed around the other side of the ring. SONET was designed to be redundant like that.

Re:Throwing Pearls to the Pigs...

[dlb]

Well if Africa was a perfect circle, and let's say its diameter is 4800 miles, then the circumference would be 15,000 miles. But, Africa isnt perfectly round, and im sure the cabling wont stay at the exact same elevation all the way around.
Lastly, it doesnt quite hug the coast -- from the map it looks like its being seated a ways out into the ocean.

Yeah, 24k would be a pretty accurate measurement.
Besides, it's better to predict too much than too little.

And how can you be complaining about bandwidth?
You have fibre running circles around your city.
It's your local phone co. that blows, not the backbone.

What about Y2K???

[shri]

All of this would be great if I could belive that Africa would survive the anarchy that various organisations have been predicting due to Y2K problems. I know a few cockpit crew of a few airlines in Asia are refusing to fly over Africa expecting large "radar black holes"...

Personally think the 1.2 billion investment should wait a little bit.

Observations from optics dudes

[Chris Worth]

I know a lot of optics guys, and here are some observations that passed muster with them:

YES, they're laying it underwater because a) it's cheaper and b) needs fewer bribes than doing it overland;

NO, they won't be running cables to every hut. The game plan is probably to make the ring a backbone linked to by 2MB wireless CDMA, doing an end-run around State telcos. (The end of government gets little closer. Great!)

YES, cost is a huge issue - but not because of immature tech; it's purely due to bureacracy and bribes. Making phone calls in Africa is pricier than in Japan, despite the fact parts of Africa (Egypt, for example) are massively wired and handle a large chunk of Europe's traffic.)

By the way, that FLAG project was obsolete even when the Wired article was written - as is Iridium up above. Think WDM and CDMA, not grateless and TDMA.

Bring on the ring!

Re:You've got to be kidding me.

[AJWM]

Several parts of this continent are without running water or food

This is true of every continent, including Europe and North America. So?

have we thrown out all sense of humanity when we worry about a continent having internet access when the people there are starving and dying on a daily basis?

Nope. The starvation problem is one of distribution, and that largely due to political problems/corruption/etc more than lack of infrastructure (although that's a problem too). Communications - the internet - can only help alleviate that.

And again, people are starving and dying on every continent. If it bothers you that much, give up your slashdot account, sell your computer, and use the money to go help somebody.

African FAQ

[rueba]

I have lived in Africa for about 17 years and while this does not make me an expert, I humbly offer my opinions on this issue.

Q: Is it true that Africa has no need for such technology and no computers to take advantage of it?
A: Compared to the US, there are very few computers and little infrastructure. However, most large commercial organisations, universities, NGOs etc in urban areas have lots of computers (mostly for word processing and stuff). The rate of penetration has been increasing rapidly in the last couple of years, and the trend is definately going to continue.

A major obstacle has been lack of infrastructure
esp. bandwidth. This project seems likely to help in that regard so it WILL have an impact on the ordinary citizens because productivity of the economy is likely to go up, leading to a higher GDP.



Q: Are all African countries embroiled in violent civil war and mired in corruption?
A: As far as corruption, to my knowledge this is a problem in much of Africa. As to the violent civil war part this is simply not true. Armed conflict is taking place in much of Africa, but not everywhere. Recent conflicts have focused around Central Africa in Angola and Congo and also in Ethiopia, Liberia, Algeria, Uganda and Sudan. Note that there are more than 50 countries in Africa, and I'd say that the vast majority of these are stable (from a military perspective). Of course you have political turmoil but thats another issue.

In the west we only hear about Africa when conflict occurs, but hey what's so exciting about people living together peacefully year after year?

Just my 0.02$

By the telcos, out of frustration

[simong]

The Internet will be as much a revolution to Africa as TV was twenty years ago. More so, as TV is by definition controlled by big business and government. The shortage of wire in Africa is largely down to the big problem of getting it in: overcoming the patronage, baksheesh, bribery, call it what you want, that it takes to get things done in much of the continent. By running the line around the coast Africa One can bring it ashore as required and leave the inland operations to local telcos.
Africa needs to brought up to speed - maybe this will help to stop the cycle of revolution and war that's holding development back.

An update...

[thelocust]

This article says that it's actually a 80GB cable, a $600mil deal, and due in 2001... however, this could just be for South Africa's bit of it. Personally I think it's the best thing since sliced bread. A start towards a truly world-wide web. Yippee!

Re:It's a good post

[anticypher]

I like your post, too bad I can't give it a couple of point to boost it to the top of the list.

As for your concern with the high concentration of land taps in the francophone area, I think I know the answer. There is(was?) a project sponsored by the french government using alcatel to pull a big fiber from the mediteranean down around the west of africa to supply the francophone countries with cheaper telecoms. This may actually be part of the ring, since it is being built in sections as funding happens.

If the french government gets their tetes out of their culs, they would see the internet is a great tool for expanding the use of the french language. Some of the far-right french politicians have actually found a large french speaking/writing/posting community on the internet, and they have become the loudest supporters of the internet in france. And there was just a linux expo in paris. tres cool!

the AC

This is what africa needs

[anticypher]

The plans for this cable have been around for a few years, I wonder if they are hitting the public relations circuit to build up some investor confidence.

If you look at the website (which hasn't been updated in more than 2 years), they were hoping to be mostly done by now. Why has the BBC suddenly picked up on this project?

on a slightly different subject......

I can't believe some of the shameful comments by /.ers about spending the money on other projects before spending on technology. What africa needs is a better telecoms infrastructure, to help developing nations leapfrog from a mostly 19th century poverty to a 21st century stable economy.

This cable is not going to bring 2Gbit/sec web browsing to every hut on the continent. It is going to carry mostly voice circuits, with the intention of bringing the cost of voice calls WAY, WAY down. It will also carry some internet traffic, which will bring cheaper bandwidth and hopefully spawn a bunch of small ISPs in each country. It is an evolution of telecoms in the area, not a renaissance.

The idea that everyone on the continent lives in huts is ridiculous, there is a large middle-class population in every one of the politically stable countries, and oil wealth does get distributed with some glitches. I also take offense that all the problems of the continent have to be fixed before they get internet access. The internet and all the related technologies are possibly the best hopes for getting education into an educationally starved area. Shame on the hypocrites who drool over the latest adsl/cable offerings in their own neighborhoods, but would complain when others have a chance to get the same thing.

The cable is being laid undersea for two reasons, cost and security. The cheapest place to lay a cable is in the seabed, because you don't have to negotiate with hundreds of mostly corrupt entities for right-of-way passage for the cable. And since most of it is hidden under the seabed, disgruntled terrorist factions cannot attack it easily. In a politically unstable climate like some parts of central and eastern africa, this is the only way to get reliable telecoms into the area. There are already dozens of cables around the african coast, some are coax, but this one will have the capacity of all the others together.

The article in the DM&G refers to a different project, from asia to the US via SA and west africa. There was an article in the SA Star a few months ago about this cable as well.

the AC

Re:This is what africa needs

[anticypher]

To start with

>I see your email address is at *.uk.
>One of the main self-justifications
>for British imperialism

Actually, I'm Irish, so if you want comments on british imperialism, that's an entirely different highly flamable topic. But not a /. topic, I don't think /. has the storage space if I were to rant on :-)

>Sorry, but when you say "education,"
>to me it sounds a lot like "western culture."

I don't agree. I think the africans are quite capable of using the technology for their own ends, and education is one of the highest priorities around.

There is also a great desire among the already educated population to end the isolation of africa as a "savage continent". Western culture is not the only one on this planet, india and the middle east are also big influences on africa as well. This is where the internet shines, it eliminates the physical separation, leaving only cultural and educational separation to overcome.


>"perhaps distributing vitamins with folate to
>pregnant African women would be a better way of >spending the money."

Yes, in the short term it would be a better way of spending the money, but in the long term the women would still not be better off. Money needs to be distributed to a wide variety of programs to improve the conditions of humans, in africa and everywhere else on this planet. There is no one simple cause to make miracles, there are thousands of them which make improvements. And this cable is just one of the improvements which will help people all across africa, mostly indirectly.

I was reacting to the kneejerk reactions of "pearls to pigs" and "racist slashdot morons", who don't understand that all of africa is not jungle huts and savages and famines, but is a collection of 50 nations with a wide variety of economic conditions.

I am heartened to see many other slashdotters reacting to the morons in the same way, with careful posts full of information and understanding.

the AC

African Renaissance?

[Milican]

In the article they mention that this Ring of Fire might "herald an African renaissance". OK, that was a supreme load of crap.

Lets see... a friend of mine went to an airport in Africa. It is a war torn shell ridden airport with craters on the airstrip from a civil war. I think this Ring of Fire is great and all technologically, but when these people are having a civil war, speak with clicks, and where alot are in dire poverty with Sally Struthers trying to rescue them then I don't think that the Internet is exactly on their mind. So I sure as hell don't think it will "herald an African renaissance".
These experts who think the Internet will herald a renaissance must be the same buffoons who think the Internet will be the great equalizer across socio-economic classes in the US for education. OK.. right....