Everyone complains of high prices and the low quality of service they get… & how we are still stuck with lower-than-world-average speeds - 128K, 256K & 512K.The most basic unlimited offer, i.e. Wanadoo ADSL 128Kbps, starts at Rs. 750. This connection is supposed to be reliable 24/24 7/7… meaning you should be getting a permanent 128kbps connection.
The other popular offer is the My.T 256Kbps, which is also unlimited & the price is still Rs. 750. But the big difference is that My.T is a Quality of Service offer which does not guarantee maximum speeds at peak hours.
(I’m not considering any other ISPs, because MT has a monopoly over Internet)
During the past few months, I’ve seen an acute deterioration of my internet speed at specific hours. At first I thought that it was something to do with the server from which I’m downloading… but very soon I had to admit it was the connection that was faulty. No matter what server I downloaded from, no matter how many threads/parallel connections I used with download managers, the result was always the same - I’m getting speeds between 4 to 9KB/s. The average speed of a 128K connection is between 11 to 16KB/s. So I’m getting half the speed I’m paying for.
The peak hours are on weekdays between 15.00 to 18.00 & during past two week-ends from 13.00 to 18.00. (This week-end, speed was great - that's my top speed above) These are exactly the times when most users are on the Internet. One more thing I’ve noticed is that the speed gets back to normal at the very instant when the clock ticks 18.00… probably when the businesses shut down?
This chart shows the level of priority to Internet access. Though I have not included it, the topmost rung consists of ISPs & VOIP companies that purchase bandwidth directly from MT on SAFE. & we common Internet users are found at the very bottom. At peaks, it’s only after all these businesses get their reserved bandwidth that we, common unimportant mortals, get a piece of the cake… Half the speed we are paying for… We are only cash-cows and are certainly not entitled to a decent speed.
A look at the top speed found in Mauritius… where are the 1Mbps & 512Kbps connections? Actually, the top speed of a 512K is 320Kbps… Why?
The SAFE cable has a capacity of around 130Gbit/s. Considering that the bandwidth is shared between South Africa, Reunion & Mauritius & half of it for international traffic, Mauritius has around 10 to 20 Gbps bandwidth. After removing all those dedicated access & companies that purchase their own bandwidth, this translates into around 5 Gbps of bandwidth for the people, i.e 5,000Mbps = 5,000 1Mbps connection = 50,000 512Kbps connections!!!& considering that we have around 300,000 Internet users & 22,000 broadband subscribers, the conclusion is simple - we are running out of bandwidth.
This explains just about everything.
We are getting low speeds at the peak hours, because the network is at its limit, & that’s what had happened during the past two week-ends when everyone accessed the Internet at the same time.
Why are prices extremely high? The sales price of a 128K connection is around Rs. 500 & that of 512K around Rs. 900…
Why is MT so aggresively promoting My.T & NetPC, offers with network-dependent speeds? Why is the price of ADSL 128K the same as My.T 256K while My.T offers thrice more services?
The truth is… to discourage people from subscribing to broadband connections. MT knows that the network has reached its almost full capacity.
Eassy, the solution?Eassy - the problem with Eassy is that it will be shared by a large number of countries & so Mauritius won’t have any significant gain in speed. If you were thinking that with Eassy, you’d be getting a 1Mbps connection at Rs. 500, dream on… that’s still decades away.
Africa & the Indian Ocean is the world’s poorest region in terms of fibre connectivity. No wonder Africa is always behind. What we need is more fibre-optic links. But the problem is that there’s always more talk than action… no one really wants to invest.UCL is considering investing into an island-wide Fibre-To-Home network in Mauritius… but who would want a FTTH connection that gives you a 128Kbps international speed?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_in_Mauritius
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eassy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAFE_%28cable_system%29
http://www.internetworldstats.com/africa.htm
The Mauritian Dream
Bilan of Internet Service Providers (ISP) in Mauritius
Update: Map of all Fibre-Optic links in the world
Update: According to Le Matinal, the Indian Ocean Commission (ICO) is organising meetings to discuss the possibility to invest into a SAFE-like Fibre Optic Cable that will link all Indian Ocean islands to the rest of the world.
My advice: Just do it!
Update 2: Akamai caching websites in Mauritius...
(2010) Update 3:
Sorry, but this whole article is rubbish. Really. At the time this was posted, I had a very crude knowledge of how the network was built. So actually I was very much wrong. Although SAFE has reached its limit, the problem is with the old local infrastructure. It can't handle peaks. With the arrival of Eassy (1Mbps at Rs 1000), it has slightly improved but you do still notice slowdowns. However, gradually, users are being migrated to FTTC. Until all users are on the FTTC network, these slowdowns will continue, no matter how many fibre optic cables are connected to Mauritius...