African businesses tap unreliable satellite technology

The high cost of bandwidth in Africa is forcing many sub-Saharan businesses to make risky investments in old satellites, according to industry insiders.

Most sub-Saharan businesses purchasing satellite bandwidth use inclined-orbit satellites because they are cheaper than those in geostationary orbit. Satellites in inclined orbit "wobble" north and south, usually at the end of a satellite's life. Geostationary satellites are stable and can beam information almost anywhere in the world, and so are considered ideal for communications.

In most sub-Saharan countries, bandwidth on the inclined orbit costs US$1,500 for a 1M-bps service per month, while the same bandwidth on a geostationary satellite costs $3,000 to $3,500 per month, depending on the satellite company.

Many companies in Africa are risking their businesses by buying capacity on inclined satellites because they can disappear from tracking technology at any time, according to Dennis Wambugu, the general manager of Get2Net, a Kenyan ISP.

"Indeed, the inclined orbit disappears at least once a day, which can mean downtimes for several hours. In some cases, it can go offline for three days, causing some of the network feeds to be less than perfect. However, it is better than no satellite at all," says Wambugu.

It is possible to track inclined-orbit satellites well with good equipment, noted Emmanuel Macharia, an engineer working for Intersat Africa, a satellite company serving 18 African countries.

"There are so many companies in Africa tracking old satellites. What matters is the equipment used and whether a company has backup equipment in case of equipment failure," Macharia said. It can take several weeks for a tracking system to lock down a satellite's position and make bandwidth available, Macharia said. However, once the system has a fix on the satellite, the bandwidth can be as stable as that from a geostationary satellite, he noted.

The real disadvantage, Macharia stressed, is that no one knows when the older satellites will fail.

Get2Net's Wambugu says that most businesses do not inquire what kind of bandwidth is supplied -- they just want cheap options.

"If the satellite was to disappear and is untraceable, there are several companies that could lose their investments. This is made worse because many companies and governments do not back up their valuable information," argued Wambugu.

Kevin Kamonye, a network engineer who has also been involved in tracking old satellites, said that investment in "cheap" equipment and failure to have backup equipment are problems affecting most African companies.

"Many companies have been cut out for days because after a modem fails, the company may not have a backup one, which makes the service poor," Kamonye said.

There are computerized tracking systems that have the ability to track satellites' movements automatically and can search for "lost" satellites by using known paths, Macharia said. To use these systems, however, a company would need to invest heavily and have a certain level of technical expertise.

Countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Nigeria, Sudan and Cameroon have vast rural areas and depend heavily on satellites. In some cases, countries such as the DRC, Sudan and Burundi have been torn by civil wars, and public facilities are destroyed.

Availability of dedicated satellite connections in Africa at affordable costs would address unreliable communications. There is a lack of dedicated satellite capacity in Africa for low-cost bandwidth that can be used for rural telephony services in remotely populated areas.

African governments have not invested in remote areas, where traditional fixed and mobile-phone operators have difficulty offering services at acceptable price levels.

It also is difficult for people working in either rural or urban areas to get an attractive price that combines voice, fax and Internet Protocol (IP) messaging services. Those working in rural areas are considered to be cut off from most communication lines except radio.

The average lifespan for a communications satellite is about 10 years. After that period, most of the capacity is moved to the younger fleet, and only the nonessential capacity is maintained on the old one.

According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there are 872 satellites in Earth’s orbit, and only two geostationary satellites cover sub-Saharan Africa: RASCOMstar-QAF and NIGCOMSAT-1.

RASCOMstar is under the aegis of the Regional African Satellite Communication Organization, a pan-African initiative involving 53 countries. NIGCOMSAT-1 is an initiative of the Nigerian government. Rascom gave its contract to Alcatel Space while the NIGCOMSAT contract was given to the Chinese government.

The Rascom system is expected to provide an expanded range of value-added services, including low-cost telecom services in rural areas, interurban links, direct international links, direct TV broadcast and Internet access.

While the two satellites provide much-needed bandwidth, very little has been done to market and deliver the satellites as a source of affordable bandwidth to Africa.

"Having a satellite is one thing, offering competitive prices and unrivaled technical support is another," Get2Net's Wambugu said.