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Update on TENET
Duncan MartinCEO: TENET
iWeek15 -17 September 2010
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What is TENET?
• Non-profit (Section 21 company)
• Operates the South African NREN– Currently: 96 campuses of 46 institutions– Some remote campuses serviced by Telkom
• Recovers costs from institutions– Around R130m per year– No donations or government grants
• Member of ISPA– Settlement-free peering at CINX and JINX
3T E N E T
International b/w cost to institutions
Start Date PlatformChargeper Mbps
Bandwidth ratio
2001-03-01 Satellite R 52,425 0.29
2003-08-25 SAT-3 R 60,545 0.25
2005-08-25 SAT-3 R 21,428 0.70
2006-08-10 SAT-3 R 20,184 0.75
2007-04-01 SAT-3 R 21,025 0.72
2008-01-01 SAT-3 R 15,045 1.002008-06-01 SAT-3 R 14,245 1.06
2009-10-01 SAT-3 R 13,375 1,12
2010-01-01 SEACOM R 1,380 10.9
4T E N E T
International b/w history
QuarterMbps ordered by
institutions
2008 Q3 228
2008 Q4 241
2009 Q1 246
2009 Q2 247
2009 Q3 254
2009 Q4 329
2010 Q1 427
2010 Q2 1907
2010 Q3 2020
2011 Q3 6000 ?
5T E N E T
This is thanks to…
• UbuntuNet’s formation and London ops
• SEACOM’s special 10 Gbps deal for TENET
• DST’s SANReN backbone deployment
• ICASA’s issuing of ECNS and ECS licenses– Following Altech Autopage Cellular’s celebrated
court cases
However: high capacity backhaul still has to reach many campuses
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What is UbuntuNet?
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UbuntuNet Alliance for Research and Education Networking
• The regional REN in eastern and southern Africa
• Non-profit association
• Head office in Lilongwe, Malawi
• Incorporated in 2006 in the Netherlands
• Now also incorporating in Malawi
8T E N E T
UbuntuNet MembersEb@le, DRC
EthERNet, Ethiopia
KENET, Kenya
MAREN, Malawi
MoRENet, Mozambique
RwEdNet, Rwanda
SomaliREN, Somalia
SUIN, Sudan
TENET, South Africa
TERNET, Tanzania
RENU, Uganda
ZAMREN, Zambia
9T E N E T
UbuntuNet’s London PoP• Located in Telecity, London
– since March 2008
• Member NRENs connect to the POP
• UbuntuNet interconnects with– Géant (The European regional REN)
– More than 300 peers at the London Internet Exchange (LINX)
– Transit purchased from NTT
• TENET operates the PoP for UbuntuNet
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What is SANReN?
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• South African National Research Network– DST funds capital cost– CSIR (Meraka) contracts with
suppliers and “owns” it– TENET operates it– Institutions bear operating costs
• 10 Gb/s Backbone ring– Commissioned 1 Dec 2009– Extensions planned to remote
PoPs
• Metropolitan access networks:– Johannesburg– Soon in Cape Town, Durban,
Pretoria
PTA
JNB
BFN
CPTPE
DBN
EL
12T E N E T
TENET’s SEACOM deal
13T E N E T
Mid 2007• Current Telkom contract nearing its end• Change is in the air…
– Electronic Communications Act replaces Telecoms Act– 2nd network operator licensed (Neotel); ISPs gearing up– UbuntuNet Alliance establishes London hub– Government envisages deploying national research
network
• TENET decides to– acquire engineering and service management capacity– operate its own routing infrastructure– call for tenders for underlying network capacity– Interconnect internationally via UbuntuNet
14T E N E T
Sept 2007
• SEACOM offers TENET 10 Gb/s circuit between Johannesburg and Sicily
• Indefeasible Right of Use for 20 years
• Commissioning planned for June 2009– 20 months away
• $23 million, payable upon commissioning
• Annual O & M charge of 3%.
15T E N E T
How do we find $23 million?
• Tried to raise loans from bigger universities– Complete failure
• Idea: Exploit the recurring bandwidth budgets!– $5.8 million p.a. being spent on international b/w– Can we pay for the IRU over 6 years?
• SEACOM says OK!– Option to pay in 6 equal annual payments– 14% p.a. financing charge
• SEACOM asks: What guarantees can TENET provide?
16T E N E T
Oct 2007
• TENET calls for “SEACOM CIR Bids”– Invitation to all institutions– Hey Mr. IT Director! How many “SEACOM Bid
Units” would you like?
• Each “Bid Unit” entailed– Preferential ordering rights for 10 Mb/s on SEACOM– Obligation to pay six annual amounts of $7,000– (Works out at < $60 per Mb/s per month)
• TENET obliged to repay in services or cash
• Breakeven point: 750 Units
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Outcome of Bid Process
• A NO-BRAINER!– 950 CIR Units bid– $29 million committed by 27 institutions
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Final contract
• SEACOM accepted the 27 Bids as sufficient guarantee
• Meanwhile negotiations continued…– Endpoints: Mtunzini and Telecity, London– Price: Drops to $20 million
• Capacity Purchase Agreement signed on 2 November 2007
19T E N E T
Later (just before commissioning)
Loan from the DBSA
• Development Bank of Southern Africa grants TENET loan of R154 million (equivalent to $20m).
• DBSA also accepted the 27 Bids as sufficient guarantee.
• Loan enabled TENET to fully pay SEACOM.
• Institutions’ annual obligations converted from US dollars to SA Rand.
20T E N E T
The advent of dark fibre• 1st Mtunzini Backhaul
– IRU purchased from Dark Fibre Africa– 160 km; 6 dark fibre pairs– 3 lambdas in use on one fibre pair– Signal amplification at Umhlanga Rocks– Was ready for SEACOM launch in Jul 2009
• TENET had required EC licenses
– Just in time– Thanks to Altech Autopage court rulings
21T E N E T
Mtunzini Backhaul
PTA
JNB
BFN
CPTPE
DBN
Mtunzini (landing station)
SEACOM cable
1st Backhaul: DFA
EL
2nd Backhaul: Neotel
22T E N E T
Further dark fibre projects nearing completion
• UZULU Main Campus (kwaDlangezwa)– 30 kms south to Mtunzini
• UNISA Campus in Florida– Redundant routes to Wits and Rosebank
• Wits Main - Wits Baragwanath – UJ Soweto– Spur shared by Wits and UJ
• Monash SA (Roodepoort)– Redundant routes to Wits and Rosebank– Amplification at UNISA Florida
23T E N E T
TENET needs
• Access networks in– Bloemfontein– East London– Nelspruit– Polokwane– Port Elizabeth– Vanderbijlpark
• Co-build partners….
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