Routed Information Technology Highway Media (RITHM) for Suva

Transcription

1 . Franck Martin, SOPAC Private Mail Bag, GPO Suva Fiji Routed Information Technology Highway Media (RITHM) for Suva Linking Organisations, Delegations, Government, Education and Research

2 Routed Information Technology Highway Media for Suva Linking Organisations, Delegations, Government, Education and Research RITHM for Suva: Executive Summary. The purpose of this document is to prove the feasibility of a high-speed network between organisations whose purpose is to help the development of Fiji. This document is presented as a case study, to give strategic objectives to Fiji to develop its inner information network. It has been proven from a European Union study that each cent invested in the development of communication is recovered 1000 fold in the development of the industry and the creation of job opportunities. This backbone of up to 2Gbps(2,000,000,000 bits per second) could serve as a basic infrastructure to link all Suva schools to centres of information such as regional organisations, government, tertiary education institutes Such speed is far than enough for all Suva, and would prove that any organisation could access any other organisation network as if it was part of the same building. The purpose is to prove that if the investment costs appears high, the cost and return for each organisation is tremendous, and not outside the budgets of these organisations. It is demonstrated that at a cost of $4,000 per month per organisation, the total investment could be recovered in one year, if the government decide to build such infrastructure at cost. An additional cost of $3,900 per month per organisation will link the Suva backbone to a 1.54Mbps Internet link to the rest of the world. It is to be noted that these costs are valid for a minimum of 16 organisations. Suva naturally offers a greater potential than 16 organisations. As more organisations join the network the monthly costs of the whole system will be reduced. With an estimate of 16 organisations or 16x10Mpbs links and 50 Commercial entities or 50x1Mbps links the cost would be of $6,000 per month for 10Mbps and $1,200 per month for 1Mbps with access to a 1.54Mbps International link. Also, this exercise is of importance for other small island states as it proves the feasibility of building city-wide network to create Intranet of information. Linking Entities Digitally, benefits. As a first benefit the access to the various governmental institution players through the use of Internet is a major benefit. Reports, news, memos can be circulated to a wider audience for a fraction of the cost of the actual paper system. Accountability of phone calls are a major burden for exchange of information between organisation, the 2

3 system allow free exchange of information because the communication cost is a fixed monthly figure not subject to fluctuations. The establishment of databases gives easy access to institutional data and knowledge through an Internet communication system. Today issues require often the synergy between key organisations. Networking those organisations offers high interactions at all structural levels. Overall the information circulates faster as no latencies are incorporated in the system. The information is instantaneously transferred between the sender and the recipient, no running jobs or delivery services are required. The total time to close a file is reduced through the suppression of human transmission factors. It increases efficiency and responsiveness, of which organisations are accountable to their users. Map Plan. Entities to be linked: 16 sites. The list of proposed sites is as follows. This is just a provisional list and could be easily extended to more sites especially in the downtown urban area. 1. EU 2. FIT 3. FIT 4. FLIS 5. FNTC 6. FORUM 7. FSM 8. FTIB 9. Government Buildings 10. ITC 11. MRD 12. NLTB 13. SOPAC 14. SPC 15. UNDP 16. USP Locations and distances. It is planned to link all the organisations using a single mode fibre optic cable except in the case of FNTC, which alone is 7km from the closest organisation. In this case a double pair of copper will be used to ensure a T1 link or 1Mbps link. Link Type Length (m) SPC-SOPAC FDDI ATM 155Mbps 1,448 SPC-FIT FDDI ATM 155Mbps 2,504 FIT-FSM FDDI ATM 155Mbps 1,650 FSM-FTIB FDDI ATM 155Mbps 1,593 FTIB-ITC FDDI ATM 155Mbps 322 ITC-NLTB FDDI ATM 155Mbps 266 NLTB-GovB FDDI ATM 155Mbps 281 GovB-FLIS FDDI ATM 155Mbps 158 FTIB-UNDP FDDI ATM 155Mbps 220 FLIS-FORUM FDDI ATM 155Mbps 2,016 FORUM-USP FDDI ATM 155Mbps 919 ITC-EU FDDI ATM 155Mbps 60 SPC-FNTC T1 1Mbps 7,442 3

4 The table shows that the total link between all organisations is 11,437 meters, excluding FNTC. The following picture shows the locations of the different sites and the planned link. It is off course subject to modification depending of the infrastructure already in place. Sites and distances in meters. Costs. Fibre-Net costs The cost of a 3 pairs single mode commercial fibre optic cable is $9 per meter. The cost to wrap the cable in an all weather conduit is $10 per meter. 4

5 To lay down the cable, it is understood that existing manholes and conduit could be used, otherwise trenches should be built. The approximate cost to install the cable is about $10 per meter. A special machine to link to fibre optic cables together is required and the approximate cost is $20,000. The overall cost to install the fibre cable is $29 per meter. The total cost is therefore $331,673. $50,000 of equipment is required to help the installation of the cable. Connection costs The network to be used to route the information between segment could be of ATM type or of the more promising standard GigaEthernet. However this last standard won t emerge till mid 1998, and costs are not available yet, but it is envisaged that a GigaEthernet system will be at a lower cost than an ATM system. ATM is able to transmit at 622Mbps on a single mode fibre optic cable using Oc12 fibre standard. It means that 1 pair fibre is used for a 622Mbps connection, with 3 pairs a speed of 2Gbps could be achieved. A Cisco LightStream 1010 router will be used to connect segments together. A single LightStream is made of a unit of four OC12 connector, several unit could be installed on the same chassis. The cost of such router is of $50,000 for a four OC12 connector. A LightStream can receive T1 compatible modules for connection up to 1Mbps. At the end of a segment a network card could be used. The cost of such network card is of $1,500 In the system proposed, we will need 7 Cisco LighStream located at SOPAC,SPC, FIT, FSM, ITC, FORUM, USP and 16 ATM cards for the 16 sites. The total cost of equipment is therefore: $350,000 for the routers and $16,000 for the ATM cards. Total Costs It seems that a budget of $747,673 is a good approximation for such system. If the cost is spread over 16 organisations over one year it puts the access to such technology to $4,000 per organisation per month for a 622Mbps minimum backbone. It also shows that the cost of a 64kbps (9718x64kbps=622Mbps) circuit could be priced as low as $1 per month over the backbone. This price doesn t includes the cost of connection to the backbone, but should be as low as a few hundred dollars per month inside Suva. Internet Link costs expected. Telecommunication carriers The actual cost of a 64kbps Internet link is estimated to $15,000 a month in Fiji. This figure is disproportional to the real operating cost of such service, and we may expect a reduction to much lower figures up to $1,800 a month as it is currently offered in the Federated States of Micronesia. However, the monopolistic environment will not change soon, and if we see reduction of prices in the near future it is not expected that Fiji will reach an acceptable level of Internet cost for the next 3 years if alternatives solutions are not envisaged. Alternative: VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminals can be used as Internet links for a speed up to 1.54Mbps (1,540kbps) for $50,000 a month and an investment of $150,000 in a C-Band 20Watts satellite terminal system. This system will increase the access cost to the backbone to 5

6 $3,125 per month per organisation in the case of 16 organisations, and to $781 per month per organisation for recovering the investment over a one year period. Reducing the costs by connecting peripheral entities. T1 lines (1Mbps) link can be established between the backbone and any organisation or company in Suva. A T1 line requires 2 copper pairs. Today Telecom Fiji Ltd. sells a leased line pair at $300 a month in Suva. The average cost of a T1 line overseas is $1,200 per month. From this cost $600 will be used to rent the two copper pairs and the $600 left will be used as connecting costs to the backbone. A 622Mps link can be divided in 16 x 10Mps (Ethernet) links offering the today speed of a Local Access Network (LAN) and into 460 x 1Mpbs links (T1). A target of 50 companies subscribing to a T1 link could be obtained in a very short term. Therefore the revenue will be $30,000 a month to be integrated in the backbone cost. It will therefore put the 10Mbps link to $6,000 a month (($126,400-$30,000)/16). 6