[kictanet] Faith in local web hosting

Kai Wulff kai.wulff at kdn.co.ke
Mon Nov 26 13:19:30 EAT 2007


Strange!

I thought this is what we do since 4 years! A Rack Space, good enough for TBs of hosted Webspace is USD 250,- per month. The KIXP link is on fiber and international bandwidth can be bought separately!

Rgds

Kai
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Joseph Mucheru 
  To: kai.wulff at kdn.co.ke 
  Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions 
  Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 12:29
  Subject: Re: [kictanet] Faith in local web hosting


  Hi Eric and Washington,

  There is another way to look at this. Why is it cheaper overseas? the obvious answer is that bandwidth there is local. In which case the hosting companies are not charged high fees for bandwidth. The infact primarily pay for peering with other networks. In our case we are yet to give hosting companies access  to the IXP. 

  One way to solve this is for ISPs to provide an "unbundled" hosting service;
  a) Local part $x per MB
  b) International part $x per MB
  c) Rack Space $x

  With such a setup it is much easier for webhosting companies to emerge and be very creative and at the same time compete with international players. This would make the business case better for most hosting business and they would not have to pay the high costs. Right now the high bandwidth cost is still paid for by the consumer since they still have to access the internationally hosted sites via the ISP. 

  Joe Mucheru




    On Nov 26, 2007 7:48 AM, Eric Osiakwan <eric at afrispa.org> wrote:

      Dear Mr. Washington,


      You have stated the obvious which is the challenge but let me try to share some light on how to solve the problem.


      It is really a chicken an egg situation, the localhosting business would develop based on demand but like you said demand is relative to cost. 


      However in the interest of developing our countries and continent if we all commit to having country code top level domain (in this case .ke) and host them locally, the demand would trigger supply. 


      On the other hand if the local entrepreneurs can invest in infrastructure and based on market study provide competitive rates (with the generic TLDs) then again the supply could trigger the demand. 


      Having said that, i have noticed something under the sun, which is that for some reason African just dont like using what other Africans produce so in some ways the former strategy would work better if we deal with the attitudinal change.  


      Eric here




      On 26 Nov 2007, at 08:35, Odhiambo Washington wrote:


        On Nov 26, 2007 8:03 AM, robert yawe <robertyawe at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:


          Hi all,


          I have raised this issue before when I did a search and found out that the
          CCK web site was hosted overseas and thus how can we expect them to monitor
          the service quality levels of the ISP's.


          On Sunday I visited the Kibaki web site, I experienced unstable audio
          streaming so I decided to find out where the site was hosted, yes you guest
          it overseas.   The other 2 presidential candidates web sites are no better
          they are not locally hosted.  Is this a reflection of who the targets of
          this web sites are? 


          The Kibaki site is developed by one 3Mice, if I remember right, which has
          some association with newly appointed ICT Board Managing Director Kokubo. 


          Regards
           Robert Yawe
          KAY System Technologies Ltd
          Phoenix House, 6th Floor
          P O Box 55806 Nairobi, 00200
          KEnya


        It's not the faith the people have in local hosting, but rather the
        cost factor. Last time I looked at this web hosting biz, one company
        was charging KES 1,000+VAT per month, which was what was though to be 
        competitive. Another one entered into the fray with hype about reduced
        costing charges, but I am not sure how much business they managed to
        pick. All the same, their charges did not compare with what is charged
        internationally (I mean in Europe and the US).
        Websites is not something that has caught up with many Kenyans, 
        otherwise the volumes would help sustain such businesses locally.
        I believe the lack of volumes is one of the factors that makes
        entities like 3Mice to host overseas. Top-notch Kenyan techies have
        been hosting their Blog with blogspot (overseas). Bandwidth costs is
        another. In Europe and the US, individuals can afford to connect 
        10MBps in their kitchens while in Kenya, that kind of bandwidth can
        only be purchased by ISPs.
        One last question though: Do you know any reliable webhosting company 
        that hosts it's websites locally, and has reliable and efficient
        access to those websites? If there is one, they are not marketing
        themselves enough.






        --   
        Best regards,
        Odhiambo WASHINGTON,
        Nairobi,KE
        +254733744121/+254722743223
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      Eric M.K Osiakwan
      Executive Secretary
      AfrISPA ( www.afrispa.org)
      Tel: + 233.21.258800 ext 2031
      Fax: + 233.21.258811
      Cell: + 233.244.386792 
      Handle: eosiakwan
      Snail Mail: Pmb 208, Accra-North
      Office: BusyInternet - 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North 
      Blog: http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/eric/
      Slang: "Tomorrow Now" 









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  -- 
  Joe Mucheru
  Office Lead, East Africa
  Google Kenya 
  7th Floor, Purshottam Place
  Westlands Road
  P O Box 66217 - 00800 Westlands 
  Nairobi, 
  KENYA

  +254 20 360 1701 Office
  +254 20 360 1100 Fax
  +254 20 360 1000 Switch Board (Regus)

  +254 722522135 Mobile


  http://www.google.com

  This email may be confidential or privileged.  If you received this communication by mistake, please don't forward it to anyone else, please erase all copies and attachments, and please let me know that it went to the wrong person.  Thanks. 
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