Ugandan hospital gets affordable internet, improved network performance

Nsambya, a 375 bed referral hospital in Uganda would still have been paying 5 times more than it is currently paying for internet bandwidth if its management had not taken the smart decision to connect to the Research and Education Network (NREN) of Uganda (RENU).

In 2019, the institution became the first hospital to connect to RENU, one of  UbuntuNet Alliance NREN members participating in the European union co-funded AfricaConnect project which in part aims at reducing the cost of internet connectivity for African universities and research institutions. A not-for-profit facility operating in the capital Kampala, Nsambya Hospital was struggling to afford the high bandwidth rates from commercial internet providers and the hospital was also suffering from a poor network performance.

After connecting to RENU, not only did the bandwidth price reduce by 5 times, but RENU engineers also helped improve, at no cost, the hospital’s network design through a Direct Engineering Assistance (DEA) exercise. During the DEA, the RENU team provided the hospital with core network equipment that  gave  a huge boost to the performance of the network, a feat unattainable without the assistance of an NREN. The hospital now has a network that is highly stable, secure, manageable and able to support innovative technology to improve patient care and enable safer data sharing for the research and education community.

With the two issues of bandwidth affordability and network performance resolved, the hospital is now looking into prospects of procuring other services such as eduroam and many others.