Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South Asia Country Report: Sri Lanka

1. Nimal Ratnayake Technical Manager/LEARN Enhancing R&E Connectivity to and within South AsiaCountry Report: Sri Lanka

2. R&E Networking in Sri Lanka • Lanka Education and Research Network (LEARN): www.learn.ac.lk • Focus: Higher Education / Research • All 16 state funded universities (26 campuses) • University Grants Commission (UGC) • 5 Research institutions • SchoolNet: www.schoolnet.lk • Focus: Secondary Education • 1000 schools, 90 computer resource centers • 17 national colleges of education • Ministry of education • National institute of Education etc

3. LEARN • Started in early 1990s • We interconnect • All 15 state funded universities (26 campuses) • University Grants Commission (UGC) • 5 Research institutions • Provide Internet access • Purchase commodity Internet bandwidth in bulk • 100% self funded • Members charged for the services provided • Not directly dependent on govt. funding • Full member of APAN • No direct connections to academic Internet

5. Past • Started in the early 1990s • Before Sri Lanka got Internet connectivity • UUCP based e-mail facility (LEARNMail) • Phase 1: 1994 – 1998 • 1994: 3 universities (CMB, MRT, OU) • Initial funding provided by the UGC • Internet connectivity in 1995/1996 • By 1998 most universities connected • Phase 2: 1999 – 2004 • Upgraded link bandwidths to 2Mbps [Suntel] • Funding provided by Sida/SAREC (Sweden) • Internet Access Bandwidth: ~3Mbps • Video conferencing between 4 sites

6. Past (2) • Phase 3: 2005 – 2006 • IP-VPN over MPLS network [SLT] • Servers hosted at SLTiDC • Many sites had one/two 2Mbps links • Others are 256kbps – 1 Mbps • Jan 2005: Internet access BW 4.5Mbps • Dec 2006: Internet access BW 45Mbps (LEARN and SchoolNet) • Routing voice calls between some sites

7. Present • Phase 4: 2007 – • 15 links to be upgraded to 10Mbps over fiber • 6 links already completed • Remaining links by June 2007 • Funded partially by the IRQUE project (WB loan) • Possibility to upgrade to 100Mbps • Internet access BW 155Mbps (shared between LEARN and SchoolNet)

8. Services • Video Conferencing/Remote teaching/ Meetings • Among institutions • International • Conference bridge to be purchased soon • Voice • SIP based infrastructure • Gateways to PBXs • sip.edu implementation • MIT Open Courseware Mirror • Other mirrors • Technical Training/Workshops • SPAM Filtering/Virus Scan

9. Achievements • Interconnect all state funded universities • Overcome skepticism about benefits • Benefits • Lower prices for local links • Lower prices for Internet access • Access to any unused bandwidth of Internet access during off-peek hours • Value addition (e.g. spam filtering) • Sharing of expertise / Technical workshops • Driving force for Telecom operators • Our requirements push them to upgrade their networks and practices

10. Collective purchasing power vs. artificial prices • Artificial prices of telecom services • Internet Access • LEARN paid $15,000/month for 7Mbps • SchoolNet offered $80,000/month for 155Mbps, but their budget is only $60,000/month • LEARN and SchoolNet share 155Mbps • LEARN gets 45Mbps for $20,000/month • Local links • UoC paid $120/month for 2Mbps • UWU paid $1300/month for 2Mbps • Upgrade all LEARN links to 10/100 Mbps via optical fiber: $950/month for each 10Mbps link

11. Challenges • Insufficient bandwidth of links • Some links still congested (even at 10Mbps) • Universities now really need high speed(eLearning, Video Conferencing, Voice) • Need to upgrade at least some links to 100 Mbps • Limitations in national telecom infrastucture • Specially in the areas outside the capital • Lack of connectivity to other NRENs • We are a full member of APAN • Yet to get connected to APAN or other academic network • TEIN3 (June 2008) is a possibillity, with government/external funding

12. Congested links < 2Mbps links (before upgrade) 10Mbps links > (after upgrade)

13. Challenges (ctd) • Silo syndrome • Different projects funded by different donors • Build separate networks instead of strengthening existing ones • Co-ordination among donors is essential • High prices of Internet bandwidth • International connectivity almost a monopoly • Much higher than in US or Europe • High profit margin of telecom operators • Getting connected to APAN/TEIN will enable us to purchase Internet access at much lower prices

14. SchoolNet • 912 nodes up to March 31 • Ministry of Education: 8Mbps • National Institute of Education: 4Mbps • National Colleges of Education: 512Kbps/2Mbps • Provincial IT Centers: 512Kbps • Computer Resource Centers: 256-512 Kbps • Schools: 64Kbps/128Kbps (about 850) • local link bandwdth upgrade is being done • Schools from 64K to 128K • Doubling of bandwidth for some other places • 50% links are wired, rest wireless • Target: 5000 schools by 2010 • 400-500 more nodes before end of 2007

15. APAN-South Asia Net Group • http://www.apan.net/regional/south-group.htm • Formed in Sep 2003 • Several “official” meetings at each APAN meeting until about 2005 • Informal meetings afterwards • Jan 2006 – Tokyo meeting (informal) • Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka • Decided to work on a South Asia Net proposal • Each country was to contribute towards a single proposal • Progress slow

16. Other possibilities • Pursuing in SAARC forums • Better participation at meetings • Possible government support • In line with clause 14 of the declaration made after the 14th summit (April 2007) • Co-ordination with the South Asian University effort • UGC of Sri Lanka supportive • Next meeting in June • ? External political pressure • To work together instead of individually