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From: paul@tantrum.csir.co.za (Paul Nash) To: Bob.Barad@baobab.fidonet.org (Bob Barad) CC: randy@psg.com Date: Thu, 03 Dec 92 10:53:04 +0200 > I'd also like to include some general info on the new geographic > frontiers that Africa's internet connectivity has reached for in > 1992. I've followed the FidoNet activities rather closely, but > I'm not as informed about UUCP and others. Help with filling > these gaps will be greatly appreciated. Current status of the bits of Southern African networking that I wot of ======================================================================= 1) TCP/IP Uninet-ZA (the local universities' network) has recently upgraded its international connection from 9600bps to 64kbps. This promises greatly increased throughput and reliability. The link now terminates directly at NSFnet, rather than PSGnet. Uninet-ZA supply a newsfeed to a few of the local UUCP sites, plus give a free ride to Zone 5 Fidonet traffic, which goes through the zonegate at Rhodes University. They also provide a UUCP link to the University of Zimbabwe, and plan to start a link to Maputo RSN. CSIR is investigating providing a commercial TCP/IP service in South Africa sometime in 1993. This is complicated by restrictive PTT regulations, and the high costs of international links. There are a number of private IP networks, and moves are afoot among some of these networks to amalgamate and share costs, although this would be against the current laws regulating the SA PTT. 2) UUCP There is an active and growing UUCP network in SA, with about 70 hosts connected. This exchanges mail and news. The international mail link is provided by a dial-up link between proxima (lucio@proxima.alt.za) and m2xenix (randy@m2xenix.psg.com), run on a pay-your-own-way basis. News comes from Uninet-ZA, via CSIR. There are a few UUCP sites connected in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, using software provided by SKAN Communications, Canada (doug@uuisis.isis.org), terminating at FRCS (paul@frcs.alt.za). These link people like the Canadian Public Health Association's aids training project, and some famine-relief agencies. There are hopes that FRCS will be able to establish a hub in Harare, Zimbabwe early next year. CSIR is interested in providing an e-mail service to more remote areas in sub-Saharan Africa, and is currently investigating the use of packet radio, low-orbit satelites, Inmarsat/C and other technologies. Whether anything will _actually_ happen is moot. 3) Worknet/Greennet Worknet (simone_shall@worknet.alt.za) is the South African end of the Greennet network in Africa. It currently runs on a 386, and uses Fido protocols. However, a transition to a Sun Sparc II running Unix is almost complete. This will use rfmail to provide a Unix-Fido gateway, but will keep the 386 as a Fido front-end. The Sun is currently connected to the UUCP network. At present, the UUCP-Fido gateway is run on FRCS. Worknet hope to move from using Fido technologies for their local users, and want to implement the CoSy BBS system, which has a windowing GUI front-end. 4) Fido The greatest penetration in sub-Saharan Africa currrently seems to be via Fidonet. Greennet run a number of nodes down Africa, terminating at Worknet. There are, however, a number of hassles with gateways between Fido and the rest of the world. The situation in South Africa is not helped by a somewhat draconian ZC, who refuses to allow more than one UUCP gateway in the country. Ah, well, such is life
