University of Ghana, Legon

The University of Ghana is connected to the Internet by means of a 64 kbps radio connection to a commercial service provider, at a cost of approximately US$2,000 per month. In addition to this connection, which feeds a three-node campus LAN, UG supports eight dial-up connections (soon to be increased to 16). There are some 10,000 students in all at UG, and an estimated 500 regular Internet users.

The main Internet access center is the campus "cyber café," which has ten terminals connected through the LAN to the radio link. Access is currently restricted to graduate students and faculty members. The cyber café is open from noon to 7 pm, and there is a 45 minute per session time limit. Usage fees are as follows:

Annual registration fee:

Individuals: 20,000 cedis (about US$8.50)
Departments/units: 30,000 cedis (about US$12.75)

Cyber café:

Membership: 15,000 cedis (US$6.25) per month (allows 45 minutes per day)
Occasional users: 2,000 cedis (about US$0.85) per 45 minute session

Dial-up connections:

Individuals: 25,000 cedis (US$10.50) per month
Departments/units: 35,000 cedis (US$14.75) per month

Local phone calls are approximately 100 cedis (4 or 5 US cents) per minute.

PDF files: We had no trouble downloading either PDF or HTML journal articles at UG. The average data transfer rate here was the highest of any of the universities we visited, at 1,335 bps, with highs of nearly 2 kbps. Table 7 shows a sample of our PDF file downloading results along with the total average data transfer rate.

Table 7. Downloading PDF files at the University of Ghana
File	File size in kilobytes	Transfer rate in bytes/second	Download time
1	126.1	446.4	4 min. 42 seconds
2	128.2	1,397.7	1 min. 31 seconds
3	170.8	1,922.3	1 min. 29 seconds
4	189.2	1,938.7	1 min. 38 seconds
5	257.8	1,088.9	3 min. 57 seconds
6	331.9	1,103.9	5 min. 1 second
7	476.5	1,762.0	4 min. 30 seconds
8	593.6	1,161.8	8 min. 31 seconds
9	616.5	1,974.1	5 min. 12 seconds
Total average transfer rate: 1,334.9 bps Note: figure includes all PDF files downloaded, not just those listed in table

HTML files: HTML journal articles once again loaded very quickly with no problems. Table 8 shows sample downloading results for component files of HTML articles, with each article comprising several different files of text and graphics. Here again the figures given are from the logged data and do not indicate the "useful" download time of when the text appears. The manual notes show that the HTML text usually appears in less than one minute, and in no case more than a minute and a half.

Table 8. Downloading HTML articles at the University of Ghana
Article	File size in kilobytes	Transfer rate in bytes/second	Download time
1	25.2	1,154.3	21.8 seconds
2	28.8	1,508.1	19.1 seconds
3	29.2	620.7	47.1 seconds
4	33.1	891.3	37.1 seconds
5	37.8	864.8	43.7 seconds
6	42.8	571.4	1 min. 15 seconds
7	48.4	694.2	1 min. 10 seconds
8	53.5	512.9	1 min. 44 seconds
9	62.2	773.9	1 min. 20 seconds
Total average data transfer rate: 758.2 bps Note: figure includes all HTML articles downloaded, not just those listed in table

Technical modifications: We installed the FreeBSD operating system and Squid proxy server at the main network node.

Assessment: University of Ghana has a well-designed and maintained network that is certainly capable of accessing online journals with its current setup. There is some interest in doubling the bandwidth to 128 kbps, but the cost of the higher capacity link would also nearly double. As a result, university staff have begun to explore the option of installing a VSAT terminal, which would provide higher bandwidth at a potentially lower monthly cost, but only after a substantial initial equipment investment.

AAAS > International > Africa