Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 35 | Page 9

NEWS Saicom becomes one of five ISPs in South Africa to gain global routing certification L ocal service provider Saicom has become one of only five ISPs in South Africa to become Mutually Agreed Norms for Routing Security (MANRS) compliant, assuring its clients that the Internet is a more secure place. MANRS is a global initiative supported by the Internet Society that aims to reduce some of the most common routing threats associated. “Our commitment to providing world class services and solutions includes finding ways to comply with the global standards,” said Greg de Chasteauneuf, CTO at Saicom. “This certification adds a layer of routing security and stability to our solutions set.” As part of the compliance to MANRS standards, Saicom has implemented filtering, co-ordination and global validation measures that will not only prevent the propagation of incorrect routing information; facilitate global operational communication and co-ordination between network operators, but also facilitate validation of routing information on a global scale. “Even accidental routing errors can have a far-reaching impact,” added de Chasteauneuf. “Route hijacking, route leaks, IP address spoofing, and other harmful activities can lead to DDoS attacks, traffic inspection, lost revenue, reputational damage, and more. These incidents are global in scale, with one operator’s routing problems cascading to impact others. By working alongside MANRS and its partners and affiliates, we believe we are a step closer to curbing the severity of the attacks and giving our clients another layer of defence.” ///////////////// Vox launches double data satellite promotion I ntegrated ICT and infrastructure provider Vox has announced the launch of a double data promotion for contract subscribers of its YahClick satellite services, bringing prices and speed comparable to that of terrestrial wireless alternatives. “Last year, Vox upgraded thousands of subscribers to plans with much higher throughput at no additional cost, bringing the speeds available through ka-band satellite closer to what is available through terrestrial services; this year we are rewarding our contract customers with double the data at the same price,” said Jacques Visser, Head of Wireless at Vox. With the exception of a handful of customers, Visser says that most of the YahClick contract customers will qualify for this promotion. YahClick customers whose existing www.intelligentcio.com contracts expired, or will expire, will qualify for double their data at the same price they pay at present, on the condition that they opt into a 12-month agreement. The loyalty promotion will also be available to YahClick non-contract customers who have used the service for more than 11 months and are willing to take up the same 12-month promotional plan. No on-site technical support or change in consumer premise equipment (CPE) is required for customers taking advantage of the offer. Additionally, Vox will give customers of the promotional plan access to their Uncapped Voice Service for R172 per month including VAT, allowing subscribers with a dedicated voice channel the ability to make an unlimited number of voice calls to any number in South Africa. Jacques Visser, Head of Wireless at Vox INTELLIGENTCIO 9