Can we, Mauritians, hope that one day our Cybercity will become a new Silicon Valley?
Paul Graham thinks that there can only be one Silicon Valley and it can only be in America.
And I have to admit that I find him pretty convincing.
Let’s look at the main reasons why our own Cybercity will not become a small version of Silicon Valley according to him:
- Mauritius does not have rich investors to finance nerds (we have lots of bureaucrats though).
- A technology hub is not only some buildings.
- A top university is needed and UoM has still a long way to go.
- The area does not have any personality and therefore it’s difficult to attract the best.
- Mauritius is not prepared to wait years and years but, unfortunately, creating a technology hub takes time…
Can we still succeed? I have some doubts.
I was reading that article and that made me think about Ebene’s ‘Cyber City’. Heh, what is the government of mauritius thinking? A building? As if that would produce our own Silicon Valley!
Silicon Valley was about creating an environment where high-tech entrepreneurs thrive. It is not about getting a bunch of call-centres together and some big corporate machines like IBM or whatnot.
The startups which began life at Xerox PARC like 3M, Adobe and arguably Apple have gotten a right to birth because there were RICH INVESTORS and ENTREPRENEURIAL NERDS willing to work together.
What will the so-called ‘cyber-city’ be in 20 years?
Exactly.
A technological hub needs bright (young) people AND people willing to finance them.
For the time being, both categories are (very) badly represented in our Cybercity.
I am not too optimistic…
Hi Avinash,
am currently working at ebene cybercity and let me tell you that the business park as it has great potentials but certainly not as an IT hub as we think it should.
Activities that are really profitable and that will over the years bring a lot of investors would be more in terms of call centres and data processing units.
Software development in my opinion is difficult because of the indian and now chinese markets with whom its really difficult to compete against but what we can produce are consultants that are based in Mauritius and are ready to fly and work in other countries such as china and india but that too might take a while.
Its up to our institutions and people like you (being lecturer) to provide the appropriate guidance and material to our your IT professionals so as they can excel standard wise on the global market and have investors coming to dodo land for our human resources.
cheers,
Javed
Hi Javed,
Thanks for your comment. I really think that UoM should focus on quality instead of quantity. It’s of no use creating 100-200 ‘Computer Scientists’ of dubious quality per year.
The UoM will shortly (?) create an institute of IT (under the guidance of IIT Kampur which is one of the best universities in India) and there are some strong indications that quality will be the most important feature of this new institution. Let’s hope it’s true ;-)
‘dubious quality’?
All graduates are not of the same calibre one can say. It’s all too obvious. And packing the brighest (I wonder how you sort out the brighest from a pool of graduates) in a team will be a recipe for disaster esp. that Mauritians have an inborn quality of being covetous. Some mediocre graduates even learn later in life and move up the ladder very fast in their 30s or 40s.
Perhaps you’re avoiding to use the term ‘dubious teaching’…
To all of you : do you not understand that MAuritius has a very low exposure to technology. Yes, we can WATCH them (we read abt it, talk abt it) but do we EMPLOY it in our daily life? Nada. We’re close to Africa and that says it all. Worse, for a Commonwealth country our spoken English leaves a lot to desire. Wonder why Singapore leads the way in SEast Asia? Ask yourself and you’ll find the answer.
Erreur mon cher: l’adage dit qu’il faut comparer le comparable!
Hi Guys,
I am Scottish citizen with Mauritian parents. I am hoping one day to move to Mauritius, where all my family are. At the moment I am an entrepreneur in Scotland’s ‘Silicon Glen’ – the situation isnt any better. Its hard for start up companies to seek investment as VCs are concentrating existing companies for growth. I have studied that from 2006 the technology adoption lifecycle is yet to grow to 2016 (10 year cycles- its been at a low). I have always been interested in the Cybercity – I actually tried to apply for a software position at one of the companies there (its a french company), but my french isnt too good (I mostly speak english and can’t understand a word of Hindi other than Namaste!). I hear there are Shell LiveWire competitions etc. to build an entrepreneurial community – I wonder how that is going (the UK has something similar) I was thinking possibly of moving over to the Cybercity with my idea – its a hardware product – maybe being closer to the east I can have better links with possible manufacturers and at the same time help the Mauritian ecomony grow – just look at what India is doing with Bangalore!
I guess the problem is with investment. Any I bet, there arent many VCs in Mauritius…. Other than wanting to invest in the Tourist industry……
Hi Ramin,
Nice to hear from someone from Scotland for once :-)
I really feel Mauritius has *a chance* to succeed. There are some people who have good ideas but bureaucracy is killing them. But the Government has just announced that things will be streamlined. Let’s wait for the budget which will be presented by the Minister of Finance this Friday…
Yesterday, the Minister of Finance announced, during his budget speech, that bureaucracy will be cut down drastically (for example, instead of having to wait up to 6 months to have a permit to operate a business, it will only take a maximum of 3 days).
So it seems that things are moving in the right direction, after all.
Now UoM needs to start produce world-class graduates ;-)
Hi
For Mauritius to succeed in the IT sector we need people who worship work and are dedicated to solve a problem rather than having a civil servant mind and want to go home at 16:00 or 17:00 even if the problem hasn’t been solved. Being in the IT industry for nearly 20 years I have seen too many graduates getting the “civil servant” mentality after just a couple of years at work. They of course have an excuse that they are underpaid but then if we keep this king of mentality we’re doomed.
Secondly too many IT graduates think that development is just a temporary job and that they should become managers after a year in that post. So, what they do is to start studying for an MBA rather than studying new techniques and languages. The end result? They are neither good programmers nor good managers.
Hi Raj,
I agree with you about the MBA. Too many people want to quickly move to middle management… (especially those with no programming talent whatsoever)
But as you know programming is not only coding : great programmers are, at the same time, great designers and great coders.
Unfortunately, in many (Mauritian) companies, young programmers only code. They don’t design software (i.e. do the most creative part of programming) hence their willingness to move to something else…
As for doing overtime, I am an avid partisan of Extreme Programming which states:
Working overtime sucks the spirit and motivation out of a team. Projects that require overtime to be finished on time will be late no matter what you do. Instead use a release planning meeting to change the project scope or timing.
I may be an idealist but I don’t think an artist (and, yes, programmers ARE artists) can work from 08:00 to 20:00 everyday…
Hi Avinash
I also believe that you can’t work very long hours on programming but what I meant was that when you’re the IT person supporting an operation you have to be able to think above the crowd and provide intelligent solutions.
Indeed many companies get their specs from UK or France and do the coding here. But there comes a time when the foreign designers trust your capability and judgement and give you only a high level requirements spec and leave the detailed design and implementation to you. As usual they will underestimate the capabilities of “third world” people but its up to us to perform beyond expectations earn their trust.
As for a programmer being an artist I share your views :-). Though I think I messed up by saying so in an interview a some years back. I guess the interviewers expected me to say that its an engineering thing and has to comply with rules etc. Which I also believe but I think a programmer should be an artist at heart to come up with intelligent solutions
Hello Avinash,
I actually work in a bank and I’m planning to move in the IT world.
I’m planning to complete “British Computer Society’ degree as well as Comptia A+,N+ and MCSE.
I just want some advise from you for what I’m doing. Is BCS well recognised here? And what about professional qualifications like Comptia,MCSE and Cisco?
Concerning the main subject of this forum, in my opinion, students in mauritius are too academic, they learn just to pass the exams and get the degree.thats all!! We need passionate people that’ll invest their selves in what they are doing and maybe we’ll move one step of the ladder to silicone valley.
Another thing is exposure to technology. Mauritius Telecom is ranked 12th in the world for telecommunication but we pay Rs1000 for 128kbps and in our sister island they get 24Mbps for approx Rs 650. What the hell????????? Safe is cheaper now!!! If mauritian people are not given facilities to be exposed on new tech, surely this government is not empowering its students to become “outstanding Pros”
What do you think.
Any comments are welcomed from anyone.
Cheers,
Jaysen.
ps: Thanks you for giving us your time & advice.Great site!!!!!!!
Hi Jaysen,
Professional qualifications are very important and are obviously recognised here. Do you have any academic qualification in Computer Science? It is important (in my opinion) to have one, especially in Mauritius, as many jobs are only accessible to undergrads or even graduate students…
Mauritian students are like most students elsewhere. They have potential but they need guidance. Some lack self-esteem (i.e. they are not aware of their potential and, as a result, tend to limit themselves to “easy” things). It’s the job of the teacher (or lecturer) to make the student aware of what he/she is capable of doing.
Personally, I understand the reason why ADSL is expensive here. Someone has to pay for the millions invested by MT. We cannot compare ourselves with Reunion island. Technically speaking, ADSL is as expensive there except that the French government is forced (by law) to subsidise most of the price (so that the French living in Reunion are not penalised compared to the French living, say, in Paris).
But I have to agree with you, technology (in general) is expensive in Mauritius. The average salaries are really too low here.
Hi Avinash,
Thanks for your reply.
I don’t have an academic qualification in computer science but actually I’m doing a degree with the British Computer society, and I will be very grateful to have your comments on this organisation, I mean is a degree at BCS worth a bsc from a university. Is it equally recognized? It’s not very clear for me. I’m doing this coz it suits in my daily schedule well as it’s very flexible.
Concerning MT, I really think that if they lower their price and don’t limit data transfer, they’ll have a huge number of customers subscribing & they’ll get much more than with their actual 10,000 clients.
By the way…r u that good!!! I know one of your students who can talk about you a whole day with me!!!!:)
Hi Jaysen,
I don’t know a lot about the BCS but from their website, I can see that they offer three qualification levels:
A Professional Graduate Diploma is not, technically speaking, a Honours Degree but BCS states that “at their highest level, the examinations are examined to the academic level of a UK university honours degree”.
So, I conclude that in the UK, recruiters consider BCS Professional Graduate Diploma holders as being as competent as people with a UK university honours degree…
As for the price of ADSL, it seems that it will decrease in some weeks. So things are moving in the right direction. As for the transfer limit, I am between two minds. On one hand, I understand that MT don’t want to devote most of its bandwidth to bloody pirates. But on the other hand, MT is preventing many people from innovating and creating new services which might help Mauritius.
As for your last question, I’ll leave the floor open ;-)
Mauritius Telecom SUCKS!!!
ADSL is extremely expensive in Mauritius. Mauritius Telecom have the monopoly on SAFE cable. MT is making millions of profit each year and he is not willing to reduce the price of ADSL!
England ADSL 8Mb/s is 10Pound (Rs600)
France ADSL 20Mb/s is 9.90Euro (RS400)
India ADSL 2Mb/s is Rs700
Ireland ADSL 8Mb/s is 20Euro (Rs800)
Mauritius ADSL 1Mb/s is Rs6400 +vat
Please dont call our country ‘Cyber Island’ People will laugh at us.
Renaming Mauritius ‘CyberIsland’ follows a long national tradition of giving inadequate names to the islands of the Republic of Mauritius: Flat Island is not flat, Round Island is not round, there is no snake on Snake Island, no deer on Ile aux Cerf and… no fucking cyber on CyberIsland!!!!
As long as we haven’t caught up with the rest of the world in terms of ADSL connectivity, we should drop the word “cyberisland” from the mauritian dictionnary. I am also of the opinion, that ministers who use the word “cyberisland” should be made ineligible for life. We don’t need idiots at the head of the country. The GM should stop ridiculing Mauritius by using grand words like cyberisland and instead work to provide decent connectivity to the mauritians.
Mauritius Telecom suckssssssssssssss! It sucks. How the hell will Mu be called a cyber-island or whatever when MT only offers CRAP! 512kbps – I get less than a 56K dialup! WTF! Telecom you are a f***ing shit!
Hi Mr Meetoo,
I passed the BCS diploma level in yr 2000. Due to lack of interest I failed to pursue my studies and it has been very regretful.
Finding courses for BCS graduate diploma is very hard in mauritius.
If at your level or if you can help for course I would appreciate to hear from you.
(sorry if i intruded in a different thread)
thanks,
zul
mail:
Hi Mr Meetoo,
We are actually doing a research for our project concerning xtreme programming.
Please can you give your feedback on what is the benefits of xtreme programming in the mauritian software companies?
Is xtreme programming being used massively in Mauritius?
Thanks,
Ogeela – UOM Students
Hi Ogeela,
Why don’t you ask the people working is those companies directly?
I own an IT recruitment company in Cape Town, South Africa. I am going to be making a trip to Mauritius in 2 weeks time to assess whether we can help find resources from around the world for Mauritius. Im sure an IT Developer living in cold Britain might like a one year contract in the sun! Does anyone have any suggestions for me please? Thanks, Bev (DataFin Recruitment)
Hi Bev,
What are you looking for exactly?
hi Mr Meetoo
Am writing to you if u could help me in doing my computer project(lower6) in programming.Am using vb6 to write i had a lot of prob in writing the codes so i would appreciate if you could help me please i have to submit on 29 september 2008
Hi Kamlesh, what exactly is the problem?
[By the way, Visual Basic 6 was released in 1998 and is completely outdated now…]
VB6 ??? o.O
ouch!! is that what youngsters learning nowadays to work in the cyber island? what a shame
as avinash said it’s completely outdated
HI,
I am a foreign investor and I ahve an opprtunity to invest in a new development in CYBER City. The builder is promising top rent of the properties with rentals from multinational companies.
Do you think it is a good idea? Especially, in these times or wolrd financial meltdown?
Let me know your commnets
Samir
Hi Samir,
I understand you’re considering investing in buildings in the Cybercity. If this is the case, then I believe that it’s a wise investment as, as you said, rent is high there and you will recoup your investment in a relatively short time.
But don’t count on big multinationals or startups. Rather, your building will be full of call centers.
Hi all,
I have worked at the cybercity for three years and I am now in London, deciding whether to come back or stay here.
I think that as it is now, the cybercity has reached saturation. The new graduates from University of Mauritius would get increasing difficulty to find a job in the companies at the cybercity unless the other cybercities open. UOM and UTM help to create the base foundation in IT where the graduate can move into any IT branch by the time they graduate. I would like to thank Avinash here for his wonderful job as a lecturing but also in creating the interest and awareness in the IT field in Mauritius.
Even if they open, the developers in Mauritius are not having much programming experience in a wide range of programming languages and platforms. If some companies are providing the training, the technology is quickly getting obsolete after 2-3 years.
The cybercity is certainly creating employment but to be a cyber hub, I think the government should invest in free mass training and certifications in all areas of IT to every IT graduate working in Mauritius where a single class could train up to 400 IT developers at a time.
The rest is up to the trainee to make use of this talent at work, for project managers to attract new contracts and government to attract new investors as Mauriitus is definetely cheaper than Europe. Mauritius also has the advantage that it is bilingual and the time zone difference plays a role too in outsourcing to Mauritius.
I think that is the only way to continue what has already been started but is stalling now..
Thanks,
hope to hear your views..
To be frank, I do not think that our Cybercity is even 1% of the Silicon Valley. The reasons being the ones written in the post and principally the one which says that it all depends on having world class education. Personally, Vikram, I am not too happy with classes of 400 IT developers… I sincerely think that programming can be easily taught but to small classes and by putting emphasis on problem solving. UoM has chosen another strategy… but I am not too confident (and I am not alone) it will work out in the long run…
I recently visited Mauritius on my vacation and found tha country to be interesting. I’ve got a MScCE degree and have been working with software design/engineering for 10 years. My question is, what is a salary in Mauritius for a SW developer like me.
Any idea ?
Hi Clas,
It all depends on you and your negotiating skills :-) What I know is that international companies may be in a better position to pay more. Why don’t you contact some of the biggest companies and ask?
hello avinash,
i need your advise.i am considering to do a bsc of computer science with network security at utm.but i havent done computer at the hsc levels and i am rather poor in maths.i got D in maths:)
will this cause a trouble?i have heard loads of stuff about how programming,java and databases are tough.is it true?
does the modules have complicated maths?
if so please tell me so that i can switch to banking if thats the case although i did science.
some people told me that if i do a degree in computer science in mauritius i wont be able to go abroad as our degree here are not recognised worldwide.
thnx a lot in advance
tyler.
Hi Tyler,
I would not advise you for or against Computer Science (or Banking for that matter…) Study what you like best. And, yes, higher studies are tough and you’ll struggle a lot (like everyone else.)
[All UTM and UoM degrees are recognised worldwide AFAIK.]
Hi Avinash i would be glad to have your view on this:
What in your opinion are the serious training institutions in Maurititus that offer courses such as A+,N+,Server+ , Mcsa, Mcse, Ccna, Ccnp you would recommend to someone looking for these courses??
To be frank, I don’t know a lot about those training institutions offering the courses you mention. What I’ve heard is that a lot of them are somewhat, ahem, amateurish. But don’t take my word for it, call them all and make up your own mind.
In fact Avinash, i want to get started with I.T but i do not know where and with what to begin with? i would really appreciate if anyone could point me to the right direction.
I must say also that i was not well informed about the careers in this particuliar field.
I don’t really like the term I.T. because it’s so vague…
Personally, I make a difference between Information Systems and Computer Science. The former is about how to use computers to make businesses more productive. Computer Science is the study of information and computation from a scientific perspective. Most people I know have the potential to become good IS specialists but only a few have the aptitude to be Computer Scientists… It’s like that: scientists often have a different cabling of the neurons and synapses ;-)
Hi Mr. Avinash,
First, my congrats for such a nice blog. At least somewhere to express ourselves freely. As many of you may think …. we are living in a democratic country and we can express ourselves freely on any private radio stations!! But unfortunately medias are meant for only some category of people in Mauritius, I personally mailed R+ and called them umpteen times, but in vain!! I turn to R1 and left my details on voice message service {explik ou cas} but none of them called me back….
Its already 6 month now since I gave up contacting them…
Well i want to have some advices and share my opinions freely.
Infact my case is as similar as for JAYSEN, I joined BSC in 2007, but i quit due to extremely high cost ( RS 25,000) for certificate level EXCLUDING exams fee EXCLUDING transport.. I had to work for another 2 years and save for the BCS exams (2009). Im surprise that the course are still expensive for certificate Rs 30,000… Diploma Rs 60,000….Graduate diploma Rs 100,000 (ALL EXCLUDING EXAM FEE).
Truly, being an SC holder i don’t have much choice other than BCS course (NO FORMAL ENTRY REQUIREMENT).
By the way, I would also like to lay emphasis that there is no equal opportunity in Mauritius, meaning, a poor SC holder CANNOT join uom nor utm as the Min entry requirement is 2 A levels, But for a wealthy buddy he/she can join One of the many private institutions!!!
Well, competing for BCS is extremely tough, as no materials are readily available here. Just go to any library and ask for tertiary level books…. They’ll say W.T.F!!!
As some might think, BCS students can turn to British council.( comme dir cozer la “avant to ti pesser mo ti marain…”) its waste of time.
As any normal person, before investing in such huge amount, i did try to get feedback & opnion, like Jaysen……to know the equivalent of the BCS course here.
First i went to CAB= Citizen Advice Bureau. After railing for nearly 30 minutes, i came before a lady and without even a Good morning , she just shout at me ” KOT OU PLAN?! COMBIEN PIED CARRER!! ) i was at a lost, i sweat and i knew i blushed !!!
After exposing my problems concerning BCS course in mautitius, the lady told me ( ICI NU ZIS DONNE DALL PU DIMUN RANGE ZOT LAKAZ!!!)
I wonder WTF “CAB” stands for!!! they cant even advice citizen about career, job prospects, so on…. better leave this subject…
So I went to MQA, Equivalence council, TEC etc etc….. Finally i was informed that the PGD (pro graduate diploma) = to a first degree level in mauritius *((BUT))* THEY SAID SO WITH REFERENCE TO EQUIVALENCE GIVEN IN THE PAST, AND THAT THEY CANT FORECAST FOR ANY CHANGE IN THE EVEN NEAR FUTURE… “maybe students sitting for Bsc exams can end up in 3 yrs to the equivalent of a diploma level!!!!… What the hell are the authorities doing??!?! Cant anyone be straight forward???!!!
I didnt got any positive answer concerning job prospects too. I called many directors of ICT company and explained myself, and asked weather they’ll find me as a potential candidate for any future employment after completing BCS course….. none were able to give an answer….. I called an ex friend who did up to diploma level and he flew to Australia, I was surprise to know that he is working as Barman there!!!!
As i’m half way stuck, I jumped to the MCSE exams….. parallel with BCS (Just like Jaysen).. Which i thought MSCE+BCS = better chance getting a job lateron.. Fortunately/ Unfortunately i got a mail saying (pass any online exams ,A+, N+, ccna, mcse etc etc)….. Nice joke..lol. What are the authorities doing once more? just sitting ???
Fraud doing Proximetric exams, like Mcse ???? how that possible???
I called Microsoft mauritius, but they cant help… they refered me to another private institution……
That’s how i get to know that doing MCSE exams = 0 % chance getting a job in mauritius. 1st the entry requirement for Mcse is “working experience in relating field, professional industries operating more than xxxx computers ”
2nd Mcse ~~ approx equal ~~ to outdated!!!! Meaning its based on 2003 servers whereas the actual requirement is 2008 servers!!..
3rd, Mcse stands for MICROSOFT……… meaning that its applicable in Microsoft working environment… minimizing chance getting a job…
4th You cant seek for the equivalent of Mcse as Its a Microsoft TM (no duplicate)
IF YOU WANT TO BE PROFICIENT, YOU NEED TO CLIMB THE LADDER, STEP BY STEP…. A+,N+,CCNA+,MCSA,MCSE, MCIT?!…… TO GET AN IDEA WHAT IM TRYING TO FIGURE OUT
A+ =Rs 10,000
N+= Rs 7500
CCNA = Rs 20,000
MCSE = 7 MODULES X RS 10,000= RS 70,000
To top Up to 2009 server you have to Prepare for a budget of RS 50,000
(ALL PRICES ARE APPROX EQUAL IN ANY PRIVATE INSTITUTION AND EXCLUDING EXAMS FEES AND TRANSPORT)
Now I leave the rest to YOU, calculate in term of years and money it cost to do BCS+ MCSE!!!!! Is it worth doing?? What are the job prospects? there are Almost no relation between subjects, BCS= Information System, IT etc.. whereas MCSE= Microsoft Servers…
That’s my point of view…. By experience, i found that Mauritians are Business minded only. None will give you the real and best advice. like Jaysen and I, there are many buddies in dilemma..
Where to go and seek for help? Who can we have faith in and trust???
Another important point is, Being a BCS student = weekends courses = jobless!!!!
Either you go and work as moderator in a tchat room (dirty work) im against.
I sent my Cv ( 6 distinctions + 1 credit) certificates in IT etc, Driving licence… but im not free during weekends… You wanna know my stats? 248 application letter sent, no reply…. Being god believer i cant work as tchat moderator. so in my case, I cant study, I cant work…. what shall i do?
A brief note about ADSL, I was an Ex member of NO”MAD, using 64kbps, switch to 128, then 256 and finally 512… YES-MAD is better than NO-MAD!!!
64kb= 4kb download rate, 128kb= 8kb dwnload rate, 256kb= 16kb download rate, and finally 512 kb = 32kb download rate…..PEAK HOURS= 12am-12pm (personal experience)
Ive heard they just come with a new strategy plan Rs 75 for modem rent!!!+ bandwidth management+ firewall security.. For more than Rs 1700/month for a 512kb connection, i wonder who on earth will quit 512kb orange @ Rs 850!!!!
(YES-MAD=1 YEAR CONTRACT WHEREAS ADSL=NO CONTRACT)
Im satisfied with Orange service, till now im fine even after stepping over 10Gb download.. only one drawback, byebye torrent files…. even doing port forwarding doenst improve download speed….. 512kb orange = 58kbps rate with FREE rapidshare user (anytime almost same speed).. It steps to 70kbps with IDM on other websites… great,nah?!!? can watch youtube without pause, the buffer rate is almost twice as playing speed in most cases..
Cybercity can become X % like sillicon valley, If people are equally considered and chance given to those who really deserve it… no one can predict in IT. Remember, in the early 70’s many great scientist predicted ” There’ll be a world market for a dozen of computers!!!” or ” Internet will never work..” even Bill G once stated ” 612 Kb memory is largely sufficient for Pc’s “….
Just project the Cybercity 10 years further….
I was among the one laughing about the 1st Cybertower some years back…. ( 1 batiment au millieu laforet )
nowadays Buildings are growing everywhere…….. We have infrastructures, equipment, even intelligent and hard workers here. I guess Attractive packages should be given to those who really deserve a post and at the top of any dept We must ascertain that the most qualified one is selected…. Nothing is impossible.
Please comment and share your point of view. Advice me and others in same situation.
At the end of the day, Ive paid for the BCS course, Preparing myself for Mcse as private candidate and im taking part for A level Exams too… that’s the best ive figured out (by my own)…
Any better Idea?
Dear Ashley,
I’m impressed by the quality of your comment. Let me try to answer some of the questions you’re asking yourself:
How old are you? Why don’t you do your A-level then (if you are passionate about Computer Science) join a university to do a degree? Certifications are fine but training is not education. Training is about mastering a product and/or a technology. Education is about becoming, well, adaptable to change (which happens very frequently in our field.)
Second thing: why send 248 application letters? If I were you (but I am not), I would identify one small company where people are genuine (ask some of your friends for tips) and try to convince the manager to recruit me (or to have me on work placement.)
What do young people really do there? I’ve heard a number of things but I would like to know more.
Avinash i used to work as a chat moderator and i could tell you a lot of things happening where i used to work (dirty or not) and it was not was i was expecting. at all for this job.
Will comment on Ashley’s post when i finish reading it…i was glancing at new comments
Tell me. I really want to know what people do there because I’m fed up with people bragging about how Mauritius is embracing IT while, in fact, most of the cybertower seems to be filled with call centres and financial companies.
Hi Mr Avinash,
So many thanks for your advice.
Yeps, Im preparing myself for A level. I’m 27 years… “Better be late than never”. Due to financial problem i was not able to study beyond Sc level.
Being Sc holder(6 distinction+1 credit “science subjects”) I had no better alternative than joining as sales/marketing, ((working hours 8am-18pm(week days)/ Saturday 8am- 16h)). It was so hard to work & study, that’s why I came to a plan: {work>save>study……..after 3yrs>work>save…..}
By the way, IT being one of the pillars of our economy, I find it weird that “A†level in IT is closed to School candidate only!!!
My decision doing BCS is based on some facts “in my case” which I think is like a dead end.
1st, I’m 27yrs; It’s like a fight against time. I must lay a firm foundation before too late. Meaning: Before labor market is saturated, and getting too old without working experience.
2nd, Being Sc holder I can’t join UOM. Just Imagine, if I take part in June 2010 “A” level exams…. I’ll Get my result slip mid August, meaning Too late to join UOM i.e. Deadline for enrollment already over (April). So I have to wait for Next intake i.e. year 2011! Now what if my application is rejected?? Maybe due abnormal time lapse from SC to A level/ or No “A” level in IT?!?! (I’m just speculating)…….
3rd, “Assume” that I’m already an HSC holder, enrolling UOM for BSc in IT = 3.5 years full time, Monday to Saturday. I’ll end my course at age 31!!!. Now, what if I’m in a situation where I can’t study further, say, after 1yr?? I guess no certificate will be delivered….. Whereas BCS is Awarded for each level, i.e. 6 month I’ll have a Certificate in IT, 1yr later Diploma in hand, 1 more year PGd = BSc level. Now take in account Time invested = Part time (week ends only) for 2.5 years only!!! Is it not better to have a BSc level from a UK university on top of that Worldwide recognize?!.
After PGd level I can enroll at UOM for MSc!!!… Now take 3.5 years minus 2.5 years= 1 year!!!, 1 year = less saturated labor market.
4th, Proximity factor. UOM= Reduit, whereas There are dozens of IT centers all over Mauritius offering BCS course.
That’s how I conclude that BCS will suit me best.
—–//—–
Nowadays its so hard to have a job when your opponents have even a single point over you, in my case I’m not free during weekends. We are living in a world where employee must deliver the good, that’s one of the many reason why long ago employees were confirm after 1 year in a company: at that time proficient employees were scarce. Nowadays it’s the opposite, its on contract basis, where employer has the power to exhaust a contract…
At first I turn to recruiting companies, but in vain. I Mailed My CV to many companies (using yellow pages)…. Finally I applied to post advertised on news paper & PSC..
Its not surprising after all, if you were a director and have to choose between an SC holder not free on weekends and a diploma holder free 7/7!!!! If in any case I’m chosen, I will have to anticipate for the worst working condition!
—–//——
You really want to know about moderator??? Ok :-)
I have a friend Ashwina, we met last month after nearly 8 years. I was shocked that she changed so much. She WAS the kind of girl, who would never look or talk with guys, never go to disco.. Her lifestyle study>prayer>home, no friend. Well, we met and she was using rude words while talking… After 15 min she asks for Rs 10 to buy a cigarette!!! Astonished I pretend to be out of money, she coast a taxi driver and ask for one!!! Cheeky one!, Last time she phoned me (pu ene program boir)!!!
What the hell can change someone so much!?!? …….. She was chat moderator.
Its one of many examples I can expose.
I’ve work for such a company years back (for 2days only). Its quick cash.
(((DONT CONFUSE AMONG CALL CENTERS {SALES AGENT/ CUSTOMER CARE AGENT/CHAT MODERATOR})))
Some Box usually asks for a minimum of Form IV only.
As far as I know, there are three ways they operate.
1st, websites pretending to make you meet someone either for a hot date or hot chat cam. BOTH FAKE.
2nd, Hot phone call, FAKE.
3rd, TV channel diffusing FAKE ads.
(AGAIN THESE ARE AS FAR AS I KNOW, MAYBE THERE ARE OTHER GENUINE BPOâ€s)
—————————–PART 1 and 2—————————
Surely anyone of you has at one time or other come across websites like in example(1st)… actually the operate in third word countries (low costs) When you register on such websites, the company actually gets your membership as a deposit… Then you will be forwarded to chat zone to meet “hot” girls. Once you did your choice, you will be invited to “HOT WEBCAM CHAT”.
(2nd) Of course you will see girls playing stripping “LIVE”. Once the “GIRL” feels like you are on 7th heaven, she will ask you for a phone call.
You will be taxed over 100% normal rate.
((( I’ve wrote “GIRLS”/ “HOT WEBCAM CHAT” etc in upper case, as In reality there are no such “LIVE CAM” nor “HOT GIRLS” as such…. if you didn’t get what I’m trying to explain, go to google search > rivalzone.. or simply type “fake msn cam”. These are actually software add-on to PLAY A VIDEO CLIP so as to appear like a real webcam to the other user… )))
So your “HOT GIRL” can be the ugliest guy chatting with you and playing a fake video clip.
———————THAT”S PART 3———————–
Its the worst one :
Live TV show, diffusing info like ”
” Super sexy de 18ans region xxxxx cherche mec de 30- 40 ans pour +++”
” Homme veuf de 50ans cherche femme serieuse come compagine si affiner…..”
” Pour une relation durable contactez sophia, 21ans, cherche homme serieux pour marriage”
Actually all of them are fake ads. Each SMS (by mobile phone) sent by the one interested with the adverts will be taxed heavily. On the other hand, here guys/girls will play with people feeling (via keyboard on computer).
I personally did chat with an old man of 50yrs pretending to be a woman of 40yrs and deeply in love!!! I still remember, the man was a mechanic, he begged me to give my home phone number/ and to come and meet him…. as he was paying his day work for “FAKE SMS”.
Usually packages are like: 1st 500(text sent via keyboard) will equal to basic salary (Rs 6000)
.Each (text sent via keyboard) over 500 first one, will be paid as bonus… On average on one shift you chat with 10 people simultaneously totaling to about 1000 text/ shift…
I’ve heard that chat moderator earn as much as Rs 20,000/month!!!!+ Traveling.
I’m against, because it’s actually playing with others feeling. Sometimes women who just lost husband, handicapped persons, mentally sick ones.. I personally I classify these jobs as stealing!.
Young ones like Ashwini are running after quick cash, but unconsciously they are heading straight into a pit!. Working environment doesn’t prohibit smoking, that’s how youngsters are smoker. After night shift, in spite of heading home, they are heading to disco!! (Temptation).
PLEASE MR AVINASH, IF YOU FEEL LIKE THERE ARE PARAGRAPH ILLEGAL PLEASE MODERATE IT.
Thx.
First of all my personal views about how things were going on where i used to work as a moderator.The company didnt care about giving us training when we need it…instead we would have to watch the more experienced animators and try to catch up with how things work and have one or two sessions with a lazy “formateur ” who would show up two or three days in a week for the 1 week training… What exaclty was my job about?
Well im sorry if that shocks some readers who are faint of heart but im just telling the truth; it is about ripping off people’s money by telling lies to generate conversations… the animators have to play as an actor/actress are given a fake profile.
You are given a fake identity( we are not mauritians there) we endose many identities given out by a profile and yes a male could have a female profile ( you are given profiles at random) and he would have to play it and vice versa for the females.And yes sometimes you could get a gay or lesbian profile according to the category of chat rooms who have chat with others with kind of sexual orientation . Well thigns might seem ok at first ,it could be fun for one hour or two or three but then since the clients are users of a chat service abroad and most of them age fall in the category of teenagers…you are certainly aware that flirting is common matter but then things could have gone spicy and indeed visa x scenarios would have to be played as well as remain disguised.Remember we are no longer mauritians according to our profiles.Animators would work more or less on each on the same fake profiles and follow the previous conversations so as not to make things suspicious
How we get paid is to fill out a daily quota by sending a lot of messages as possible unlike MRU we send messages its them who pay for it no like the contrary we have here.sometimes the person could have empty their phones credit and we would have to beg them to refill it so as to continue the conversation because our quotas could possibly have not been filled yet…or because we would want more money (this statement makes me sick)
Avinash sometimes when there would be no topic or nothing to say we would have to go the easy way of talking dirty to engage into something sensual with sexually active teens or some playing one and this is sometimes the only way for us to fill our quotas. avinash, i had no idea i had to expect such a thing…but what really disgusts me is that no one seems to care.what about moral values?? we were warned not to discuss delicate subjects such as religion that was not allowed although i know some of my colleagues have had nasty experiences with that .and also try to always ” rode ene pretext” when one user wanted to get more intimate with you eg:wanted to call you, etc see you on webcam…Well above is my personal experience as a chat animator and im sorry if some parts might shock some readers but its the true reality of what i have been undergoing for this job.
Avinash I didnt get enough courage to tell the truth to my parents when i left this job.
To both Ashley and JT:
Thanks for explaining in details what kind of things happen in those places. Strictly speaking, I have no deep philosophical problem that such companies exist (because, well, they seem to be satisfying a need) but what I find very troublesome is that some young people (and most parents) are completely unaware of what happens there.
I think that the Government has to force every company to publicly reveal in what business they are before they are allowed to recruit people.
To Ashley:
Good luck for your BCS courses. Be positive. And don’t forget my hint about working in a small company as opposed to working in a large one.
Hi guys, do you think its worth to get the mcsa/mcse on server 2003 certififcation since Server 2008 has been recently launched? ive heard that there will not be mcsa/mcse for server 2008 but only mcts.
Hello Sir,
What a coincidence, we were all much interested with “call center issue”.
Well there’s a main point Ashley omitted, Young ones change Identities, sometimes a real girl can become a lesb…/ hetero/ or gay!!!! and vice versa….. In doing so, this has a sever negative psychological effect, that will definitely deteriorate their feelings thus rendering them heartless. Those deeply affected will do it in real life, duping guys/girls then after getting what they want, they’ll just leave the genuine one hurt alone there.
[Antish, I have censored some parts for obvious reasons :-) ]
where can we get the information about test centers for microsoft exams for private students?
Funny that you’re asking for questions concerning Microsoft on my blog :-)
I’m seeking information about it
Hi, do mail Microsoft for more info. What I was told in all IT centers is that you cant jump to MCT or MCSE unless you do MCP/MCSA. And before you compete for MCSA you have to do A+ and N+.
Check out the entry requirement for the exams on Microsoft websites.
hi i am vikesh. i have also been a chat moderator when i was 17. now i am 23. i worked there for 1 year, and it did paid me well. i saved this “dirty money” well all the money are dirty but this must be the worst, anyway i saved up and came to study in london. am still here. i managed to do just my diploma in bisiness admin. i want to come and be part of the ict economy. i have done just sc 5 credits 2 pass and just have a diploma in business admin. can anybody help me and show me a way when i come back home which is in 3 weeks.
thank you
hello sir,
your blog is very much helpful. thank you for what you are doing.
i am currently doing my ccna and intend to further my studies to ccnp and
bcs. i’m actually in a big financial crisis, i wanted to know if i could really get a job with the ccna. Well by reading the comments of L. Ashley, i’m really starting to feel a bit
troubled about job prospects with a ccna.
i have always dreamed of getting a job in the networking field no matter how small it
may be. I’m really passionate about networking and i feel that I’m better in
nothing else but this.
i will be turning 22 this year and i’m jobless. so i spend most my time studying.
please sir give me some advice!
Don’t believe statistics. People with good skills and a good attitude towards work always succeed :-)
thanks for your reply sir!
indeed, you are right. yes i should be more positive!
now concerning the dream of calling our cybercity a mauritian silicon valley,
this won’t be achieved unless the companies and the local government start to invest massively on newer
technologies and better internet connections. Also the mind set of our people should
change. I think that we should be more open to the world. I mean that if you call a concentration of call centers or data centers as a ‘cybercity’ then i think that we are going in the wrong direction.
I have nothing against call centers, as they create jobs and bring money to the country(huh…i think so).
Better and cheaper technologies is really what we need!
also not every household in mauritius have the financial possibility to have a computer(not to mention a broadband connection).
… and we should have much better tertiary education than we have now: better teachers, better equipment, better understanding of the technology revolution happening right now online and on mobile devices, etc.
exactly!
Hello there,
Back again on Mr Avinash Fabulous blog after many month… Im taking part this April for BCS exams. My personal experience, low quality of teaching in mauritius. If one day I become a teacher; for sure i’ll be much better than many many “lecturers”.
One advice to everyone who wish to join any one of the many private institutions for further studies : NEVER TRUST BLINDLY THAT XZY ‘CENTER’ IS MQA REG OR WHATEVER. ASK FOR THE LECTURER/S NAME AND JUST DO A SIMPLE SEARCH ON GOOGLE OR QUERY AT MQA.
I was duped after paying many thousands rupees for the BCS course…. What i mean, the private institution is MQA aproved but not the lecturers. The management is more after profit than student success. They employ “”lecturers?” who are not qualified. Lecturers are mostly ex students same field, or students at uni doing slighty higher level in same field… in some rare cases they will employ secondary school teacher.
Le system d’education Mauricien c’est a se faire chier!. On essaie de detruire la base de l’education plus que jamais. Ca sers a quoi les lecons particulier??? Sois pour consolider notre conaissance dans la matiere ou pour mieux comprendre ce que notre prof d’ecole/uni a failli de nous faire comprendre…. On essaie d’etendre l’horaire scolaire et etre enseigner par le meme prof qu’on arrive pas a comprendre!!!
C’est quoi cette histoire?!
Combien de ces eleves ayant terminer leur etudes superieurs sont pret pour “deliver the good” sur le marcher professionel du travail?? Le programme d’etude ne correspond pas aux exigences des employeur. Tant d’uni a maurice, et ou on passe on entend dire les eleves font l’informatique… comment se fait -il qu’il ya un manque aussi important de developeur de logiciel?. Des fois je me demande comment des gens aussi incompetent on passer d’annees a l’uni…Alors que d’autre beaucoup plus competant sont delaisser… Ca laisse reflechir….
Assess any HSC student and you will see their level of education compared to students of the early 80’s… I personally did discuss with some Maths student (hsc level) their knowledge is far too limited.. many of the contents of “core book of bostock and chandler” is obselete. These missed contents will be developed at uni..
I guess, that’s why long ago there were some HSC students and nowdays there are many Bachlor. ( Ban c ki pa p croir moi, prend ban livre arithmetic des annee 70 pu niveau hsc, btw calculatrice pa ti p servi sa lepok la..”log” ti dans table, calculation up to 6 decimal places were required in complex exercises)..
enfin….. L’ile maurice que c’est formidable…
Forget to tell u, the chat box i was working for, went on fire last year!!lol
Congrats Ashley for writing such a long and interesting comment.
True. There is a major problem with our education system: it’s unadapted to what is happening in the real world. And the main reason for this is because a somewhat large number of teachers and lecturers are, simply said, not good enough… and, as you mentioned, this is especially true in the myriads of training institutions we have in Mauritius.
This completes the statement that most training centers are simply- money minded business who make profit on students and not give a f***of giving the adequate amount of professional training expected for certifications in the it field.
Welcome to the world of cyberlearning guys … i have doing over my A+ , N+ and Security+ feeling myself not prepared for the exams ,i invested my money in online training materials and i must say that i have learned a lot better compared to ridcilious training sessions done by an instructor who reads out an ebook to you.
what is this??paying lots of money to sit and read in a class together when i could de doing it myself.this is not what i paid for.
Well i learn at my own pace now with trainsignal vids http://www.trainsignal.com videos and i really enjoy it…and i feel confident enough because it has cleared some doubts i had about these comptia courses.i’m will still carry on with it until i hear that the quality of training has improved of which personally i doubt.
There are some training institutions who are very very very professional. Check http://www.knowledge7.com/ for instance :-)
Hi Mr. Avinash,
Please do check your email, I need you help.. please.
Thank you beforehand.
I got your email. I’ll reply (hopefully something sensible) very shortly.
Hello eveyrone, i would like to share my story, i am a jobseeker in the I.T industry and i find it very difficult to get started with a job.I am interested in something like technician/system administration/networking…and ive been 6-7 interviews i think for those kind of jobs and i was never contacted again :(
I have my certificates my Microsoft and Cisco Systems( which i thought would prove that i have ability in these platforms and would higher my chances to get hired) but the most common problem i encountered in interview meetings was about experience in the field … in most job adverts something like 2-3 years is required but then i find my case personnally with not a lot of it actually..because i never worked before.
I have been told in several interviews that i do not have enough experience yet interviewers should know that i need to work to get experience so my question is simply: how do i get experience if no one wants to give me a job???
I am really confused now since i planned my career already but goals seem to be very difficult to acheive…
Hi Kilwar, my (own) experience tells me that job seekers look for good attitude first and skills second. So, maybe, you were not convincing enough during your interviews. Let me give you an advice: when you go for an interview, start with THEM, then YOU, then BOTH OF YOU. For example, show them that you know what they are doing. Then talk about your own capabilities. Then, finally, say how you think that you can help them achieve more. This is what they need to perceive for you to get the job.
My 2 cts.
Unfortunately my proposal to share 50% of exam fee was rejected. But i will never accept it. Because i have been generous enough and accepted losing Rs 20,000 + 6 month time. But I wont accept to spend Rs 15,000 on exam when i am not responsible. For both lecturer and management assured me that they will cover the whole syllbus in time, thats why i did exam payment.
—————————//————————-
A summary for anyone reading this post. I paid for tertiary study in a private institution. There were no quality of teaching, no relevant notes, uncompleted syllabus, and when i asked them to have the exam postpone, they refuse to get involve. pretending third parties cannot be involve in exam postponment…. Which is fake.
After some research, i learnt that the institute is not TEC/ MQA aproved for tihs course nor have MQA registered trainer. I will keep all informed about it, and surly this will end on medias.
———————–//—————————–
Anyone who wish to join any small private instution, make sure they are MQA approved for the course you are enrolling. Because they will say “WE ARE MQA APPROVED/REGISTERED” playing on words, maybe they are approved for 1 course only. And make sure their lecturer are trained and qualified too.
The best is to go to uni even if it takes time. If you dont have Hsc, better do A level then join UNI. esle you will see yourself losing much more money and time. I am sharing personal experience, because i dont want to see others making mistakes like ive done.
[Slightly edited — AM]
je suistogolais mais je suis venire shes mon grand mere et j ais conmacepare jouwe dans une equipe mais on nous paipas aquosse de sas j ai venire poure aiscrire et le football c est ma vie je reside au ghana et :love: :love: :love: :love: :love: j évolu sur un stade comme mulliue goshe numero 11 je suis tres bon de la tete et jou avec ses deux pieds jaimerais avoir une invitation pour l europe pour faire des essais et vous montrer de quoi je suis capable .a l école je me débroulle pa mal je fais et jai 18 ans ses mon email ses difezi arafate je jous dans un equipe au ghana je ves venire jouwe dans l ecole de foot an marselle mais je shershe deqoi je suis laides oure venire an europe poure venire jouwe an europe..ses mon numero de telephone +233265096290sis vous aves wuie mon mesage svp apelle moua svp moua je shershe laide poure venire an europe jaime voutre ecole de foot ???……..svp avoir une
invitation
venant de votre ecole pour faire un test et vous montrer deqoi je sais capable. a l ecole je me debrouille pas male.le football est mon travalle AIDE MOI SVP J AIME LE FOOT ET J ENTRAINE TOUS LES SOIR POUR ETRE UN jouwere J’aimerai des renseignement pour une eventuelle rentrée dans votre institut.J’ai et et on me dit bon joueur et je demande qu’ intègrer votre groupe.informations aplle moua svp s’il vous plait aidez moi à jouer et à progresser dans un club merci
merci me dames et monsieur NON ET PRENON:DIFEZI ARAFATE
ADRESS:
APELLE MOUA:+233265096290 MERCI
Anyone willing to help? :-)
What a good blog! I’m new here, I’m Ali, 21 years. A good precision for students here who are finding difficulties in which certifications to study just like Ashley and others, my advise is don’t be discouraged! I have my SC but failed in Maths. I have GCE AWARD not HSC! I will not get university of course but I’m Network+ certified by CompTIA. I will sit for my Fundamentals of Hardware and Operating Systems (FHOS) exam by NCC Education in August 2010. I will do CCNA in September 2010. Then will do EC Security Analyst/Licence Penetration Tester by Ec Council. Then will know what to do later. University is a loss of time! Believe me!
It depends on your definition of a university…
If it’s just a more advanced secondary school, then maybe you’re right.
But, for me, a university should be a place where intelligent people meet to share ideas. And such places are essential for the development of a country. Read the post.
Mr Avinash, I think we can say UTM and UOM are like advanced secondary school lol! I’m not against graduation but let me explain, why losing 3 years on a bench when you could work and achieve experience in the mean time if you would do professional certifications like Cisco, Microsoft, bla bla! I used to say only people who will do programming should do university, the rest of IT fields, go for professional certifications. But now I can say, people can learn programming without going to university for example Knowledge 7 where you teach, someone can learn PHP etc… There are other institutions as well which teach VB, JAVA etc.. Companies will not care where you learn but the quality and knowledge you have! En passant, quand commencera le cour Linux System Administration? Pour vous dire franchement, je suis nul sur Linux LOL!
Hi Ali, hi everyone, I’ve never been to school but gathered quite some IT certifications over time and was the first mauritian to be certified as apple system administrator here. I do believe that university is a very good thing but all depend on the origins, way of living and parents of the students. The learning curve start at the very young age and not at school for sure! There is no need to be at school. School exist everywhere on the planet to assist and fullfill all the missing/lacking which the young human cannot get from his parents/relatives as themselves are unaware of certain things, so university/schooling for many of us is NOT a waste of time! Think twice before you say such thing! Waste of time for you, very good but thats not a reason to try to convince others for such a belief. Yep some lecturers are not worth lecturers and yes some student are not worth students also!! And some institutions are here to make you waste time. Not being stupid you see the credentials of the institution before enroll in or enrolling your kids!!!
For a little sharing on the main subject here: Its quite impossible for mauritius to be a cyber island. Youngs and even the elderly are too much fils et fille a papa et fils et fill ea maman!! Even Navin still says Mo papa ine fer ça!! Grace a mo papa!! Mauritian are too dependent from the deepest of ourselves, Those of you out there who had had the chance to be in the silicon valley you know the type of people/ mindshare there, those guys work very hard towords the realisations of their project, they are always moving forward. No stand still. The government is actually doing smthin very bad: the recognition of experienced workers by giving them NTC Certification. Sorry for the expression but those experienced worker have 15yrs gratt graine experience and wake up and be certified! How stupid and silly can a government be to take such decision! Comparing the sylabus and the knowledge of these guyz and ladies, they meet only 5% of the NTC sylabus in their field of occupation.
See also internet connection available : a normal mauritian can afford max a 512kb subscription and this subdcription come with 128k up – a pitty compared to some african country!! just look a senegal, internet offers theres really cannot be compared to ours. The internet is the main source of knowledge, may it be helping our children our giving ideas to steve to get off prison!! If its not accessible to our children and nothing is being done to set up a good learning class of how to use the internet to get everything out of it, there will be no progress even if the internet is here. Give your little girs of 3 yrs an ipad and install some coloriaz apps on it and see what she will be doing in 2 to 4 days. You’ll be amazed, almost all mauritian have no access to necessary resources at the very young age (2yrs – up) its a social issue. so for sure in the next 20 yrs Mauritius will more or less be a Cyber gratt graine island than a Cyber Island!! A PITTY.
In such a very little surface area and a said key and star of the indian ocean + now cyber island, everybody should have access to 10mbps up/down wifi or cable connection locally here(between mauritian) and minimum available internet connection of 2mb down and 512kb up. Service providers think money first and they backed up the government with their income, accessibility to information an resource is not important for the population. See the little drugs film they are actually after! What they are saying here is awareness is very bad for the population!! MAURITIAN BE IGNORANT AND MAURITIUS WILL BE HAPPY. How will such a country speed up his move forward in any field, see l’industrie sucriere v\s government, air mauritius, ceb, mauritius telecom!!!! See the manga films Gundam!! A very simillar overview!
Go to UK get a lawyer with you, go to india and get a very good lawyer with you and go through the docs you can put your hands on relating to mauritius between 1890 and 1970, law, exchange, visits, settlements etc. Go to the archives here too of course.
Im not pessimist but seing the reality and looking what our chief are deciding for us. we have a very long way to go, the children of our children will not see the development relating to technology happening now in some other countries in mauritius. Pié la fini pouss traver. Navin pé fer couma li capav mem, mé bezé mem li oussi line pouss traver enn ti pé. Si pena discipline couma li dir couma nou pou avancé. problem la zordizour plito dan la mass et dan lindivindi et c akoz bann deciderr mile nef cent lontan, tou sanzman pran enn letan, si sans catastrof pran inpé mwin letan, dan sitiation nou sizé letan la pou mariboukouletan!!!!
Hi i’m not a university student and i was wondering what do you guys learn there about information technology comparared to Comptia, Microsoft, Cisco..etc.. courses ??
@Ali @Vince @Kil
You’re right. We still have a long way to go if we want our little country to succeed in the long run. Our education system is pathetic because it does not encourage creativity. Our university is (as you said) more of a secondary school.
But there is hope.
The world is moving fast. And some of us will adapt (while some will suffer.) And those who adapt will (like it or not) help create the Mauritius of tomorrow.
Ok I will explain, take an example of the Diploma in Information & Technology, what’s the use to do it? The course is 2 years with 15 modules I think, and how can someone learn a module fluently with such a low time? Can someone learn networking in only 3 weeks? No way! By the way lecturers will only teach you in brief and then you have to research yourself. In addition, in the network module, there is no Cisco tutorials so better to go to professional courses like Ciscco CCNA, CCNP etc directly…other than doing a diploma which after that you will have to take professional courses again! Can someone works on Microsoft Windows Server or on Linux Server in a diploma? My foot! Perhaps the person can do things which are easy but which is better, doing the diploma or doing MCITP or RHCE directly? I think the second options! Money is sacred, dont spend it on a diploma where you will have to spend it again on professional courses later! I said again, company don’t care about your certifications except if you want to help the government, but they want quality, professionalism and knowledge! I say again, I’m not AGAINST university but for me it’s a waste of time! It depends.
By the way, university is losing the value it had 15 years back, by taking students with E in HSC. Toi to apran kuma fou to gagne 5 A kuma to guete lot koté ene piti gagn E ek li p gagn mem cour ki toi! Inutile sa!
@Ali
I agree with you about the issue with the quantity and quality of intake at universities in Mauritius. It’s abysmal. But I also think that a good university is crucial for the development of the county. In all developed countries, you do have special structures for the very bright (e.g. the Ivy League in the US, the grandes écoles in France, etc.) and this is missing in Mauritius. Consequently, those who have talent are not being given the opportunity to show what they can bring to the country…
Personally, I am for having a very very good university in the island (with stringent intake rules and world class quality) and, in parallel, pervasive professional (and lifelong) training. Both are important.
You must see it this way too Ali:
The one with the big E in HSC does not mean he is incompetent for the course he enrolls in!! He might be far better than the one who score an A at HSC as the latter got a brain capable of studying up to HSC only!! I meet quite a lot of these kind of person everyday also lot of them in uni and dcdm!!!
Mr Avinash, I think you must write an article based on diploma/degree v/s Professional certifications. This will b a great debate and I think you will know also what students really want, where is our system of education going today etc..
@Ali
You’re right. I’ll do that in a few days on elections.mu. @Vince’s point is very true too…
@Vince: No No No my friend I have not criticised the intelligence of an E student but the way the university is recruiting! By recruiting E students, A, B, and C students will lose motivation because they have studied so much to get a good result and now they are seeing E students ravaging the university, they are getting the same course. Mind it, that’s why university does not have quality. Just like Mr Avinash said, me too I’m for a very very very good university!
Il faut de tout pour faire un monde.
Il faut une éducation de masse… et une éducation élitiste. Tous les pays dévélopés opèrent ainsi.
Par exemple, comparez les grandes écoles et les universités en France.
En passant, on en est passé tout près… Vers 2007, l’IIT de Kanpur en Inde avait proposé à l’Université de Maurice divers avenues de collaboration ayant pour objectif de déboucher sur la création d’un institut de formation avancée en Informatique à Maurice.
Le projet a capoté et est maintenant (autant que je le sache) aux oubliètes. La raison principale étant le manque de vision et le peu de volonté de la partie Mauricienne…
Mr Avinash, when you will write the article on election.mu please can you send me an email to let me know when it will be posted? By the way, it will be more debatable if you introduce the Open University concept in it! I’m afraid that in 5 years or less there will be people with diplomas who will be unemployed! There will be too much people graduated and this can be a bane if there are less investors in IT. Where people will be employed when there is no investment?? I’m optimist and afraid! I wanted to do a diploma myself in telecommunication systems by City & Guilds but my chance to get a job in telecommunication sector is poor after 3 years. I prefer to go for networking sector even there is low job prospect!
Hello all since the debate is starting i would like to share my points
Well i have experienced this alot and still I don’t understand why in many i.t techinical job advertisements many companies look to recruit candidates with and give preference to those with a freshly earned diploma in it/ degree to work in this field like computer technician and network technician/ administrator / engineer
What about the candiates that did comptia A+ and Network+ Ccna,Mcse, etc..
but without a diploma/degree.
Do these companies really think they are hiring the right candidates to work as a computer technician and network technician/administrator/engineer? wont they screw up?? i dont understand this matter of preference.
If somehow those who are recruited then, did they learn these stuff in their diploma and degree courses..then what is the point of professional certifications ??
Btw i know someone who got his work as a computer technician same time when i applied to but he has only a diploma in it from uom.and i dont. i have professional certificates from microsoft and cisco + 3 yrs experience .what i find irritating is that he phones me several times to ask how to do things..like installing windows, changing hard drives and optical drives..and ram…grrr…
i am a computer technician myself and this person doesn it even know the difference between a 478 and 775 socket fan !! How did he get recruited?
i still ask mysef
In all fairness, someone with a degree is not a computer technician but, rather, a computer scientist also called an informatician. Whether he/she is a good computer scientist or not is another debate…
@ JT: I totally agree with you! If I was in your place, I would not help him! I will be a bit radical, but as I said above, they can’t work on Cisco, Server, Technical, and even Security! Only programming, business computing and communication they can do, even these I’m optimist! That’s why we have incompetent people here!
JT, what you just share relates to it tech, its is fact same in almost all field, here whats happen: The one who recruits understand it like such – academic study like uni etc = someone who know his business. Certification study = someone who dont know his business but been able to acheive some recognition. Not all boss know what they need they just know that the business need an IT guy. This is purely Mauritian! Even in difficult country like Mada recruitment is not like here. Services providers enjoy this situation here to sell their services and product, selling product and service not appropriate to such and such business. i.e. an old friend of mine call lately: “someone call me offering a centralize file storage solution, he was speaking english he is not from here, ill forward you his offer” ok, ill ge back to you asap”. Like almost all Mauritian overestimating foreigners!!!! The offer was not bad but not the adequate and right solution for my friend. Lucky for him he dont get in this investment.
Almost everywhere you go here it will be like such:
Foreign UNI will get priority over local UNI (ridiculous)
UNI will get priority over Cert (apply where appropriate)
DCDM will get priority over IVTB (enn offense a la population in the design field, here you are right Ali studying at DCDM is a waste of time and CASH!!)
Guy Forget will get priority over IVTB (good choice)
UNI only will get priority over UNI + Cert (stupid boss)
Nobody do any branding or marketing for cert in mauritius, and for IVTB they started by offering course for thoze who does not acheive SC level and all boss understand it like so. A fact for you guyz reading: at the very begining of IVTB in some particular course almost 70% students enrolling were with GCE, SC & HSC in courses requesting a minimum of form 3!! And there were even free seats left after last dates of application. Seeing this you definitely understand that Moricien napa envi aprann. Fortunately we are not of thoze. :)
Me napa decourazé ban zom, ene zafer ki napa pou sanzé : specialiste pou touzour pli bien payé ki generaliste, dan tou domaine ça!
Hey guys even I’m for professional courses, don’t forget that Cisco, CompTIA, Microsoft, Red Hat, EC Council, etc…certifications expire!
True @Ali.
I earned a RHCE a few years ago and it’s not current anymore as far as I know but it is still valid :-)
This is because all certification bodies are supervised by the renewal policy of the US Department of Defense! They do this because technology changes each time so you will have to update again and again! Even it is a good measure, the disturbing factor is no doubt you have to revise until you get your pension LOL! But, I don’t think companies in Mauritius tell their employees to be certified again! Don’t know! I’m only 21 years, I don’t have professional experience but only personal experience as I have repaired many PCs and configured network in my life. I’m already a Network+ certified by CompTIA for life. I will complete my CCNA in December 2010, and I will sit for my Fundamentals of Hardware and Operating Systems (FHOS) exam by NCC Education on September 2010. Then I will search for a job! I want to be fully qualified as a network technician first. By the way, I want to be specialised in Network Security, so, I will do my Security Analyst/License Penetration Tester by Ec Council in September 2011. Then I will enrol for the MSc in Computer Networking by UTM in 2012. Even I have no diplomas/degrees, they will accept me because the requirements for it are only a knowledge in Network. See UTM website! It’s no doubt with these professional course, I will get it. If I get it, then I will not update CCNA as the MSc Computer Networking will act a barrier. What’s the use to update when you have an MSc lol! Use your brain! Sweet!
Sure, its up to the certified to keep up to date.
hello sir,
wow! thank you again for your blog, i can see lot of guyz out here sharing their experiences, very good!
concerning the professional certifications:
i have my self completed my CCNA with a very good score point(945)
but when i had applied to many companies, the result was not that successful.
i even went to interviews, but other guyz having a degree with them got the job.
What is the use of doing certifications when academic qualifications are the only thing that recruiters give importance.
this is so stressing for sme1 having hsc as only academic qualification!!!
in the end i lost hope of obtaining a job with a ccna certification and enrolled in a two year diploma in IT at the MITD, hope that it would result in better job opportunities.
Once again, I want to stress that an academic degree is not comparable with a certification.
Earning a degree (theoretically) shows that you have learnt how to learn and will be able to cope with whatever happens in the (distant) future. Whereas a certification proves your mastery of a specific technology at time t.
That’s why people tend to recruit degree holders: they want to have the assurance that their workforce will not become stale with time. Whether this is a sound strategy or not is another debate.
This depends which job you have applied with only a CCNA! With a CCNA you will get only network technician and performing switching an routing on routers! To become a network administrator, go for CCNP! Why you applied for the diploma? You could do CCNA, CCNP then enrol directly for the MSc Computer Networking at UTM, believe they told me they recruit with professional certifications! By the way, professional certifications are based only a specific product or field! Time is money, I don’t have time to go for Diploma! I want experience and I know I will succeed! I still trust my 4 colours flag!
@ Ali
Even if you do your msc in networking and you’re going to pursue for a career in networking as a technician dont you think that you will somewhat be expected to keep your skills up to date by taking new exams?? what i mean is that the netwoking world is contantly changing and moving around so we will still have comptia network and cisco exams to us keep up to date.
Taking into consideration that the technical field of networking is often associated with popular names like comptia’s network + and cisco’s certs and even microsoft’s mcse and not a msc in networking because the networking world actually depends on devices in which you learn how to work with and master them by doing a professional certification course..
i’m still wondering what do students learn in a msc in networking ;-)
@JT The modules in the MSc are so easy. A Network+ guy can do it. Believe me, see it on UTM website! By the way do u work? I think I will enrol for Security+ as well as CompTIA certifications will start expired each 3 years as from 1 January 2011! So, I think I will do it this year to be certified for life! Diploma=WASTE OF TIME, INCOMPETENCY AND USELESS! Lol!
Once again, let’s be clear on something important: a degree is not important if one wants to become a technician. On the other hand, some who wants to become a computer scientist needs to go to university. A degree is not useless…
I read over the posts for these guys who know what they want to study and that’s good and i respect their choices.
But the main point i would like to empthasise on is will they be getting the job of their dream after all this long time of studies.i hope there will be..no one would want to input 100% effort in studies and then result in 0% output for job opportunities.
i am not discouraging anyone but rather being realistic as what i see is that the job market in mru in the technical field is somewhat getting saturated.
i’ve been knowing some people who are’nt getting a chance to prove themselves in this field because of lack of experience and this is a major problem for them in a job recruitment process as employers will be looking for the best candidates only..possibly getting the job *cough* donne certain dimoune backing.
@Kil
By experience, I would say that there are still a lot of opportunities in the IT industry in Mauritius. A few people, who maybe don’t realise it, lack an understanding of how a business operates. A business tends to recruit people who have a good attitude towards work i.e. professionals. Technical skills is somewhat secondary as anyone with a good attitude is also willing to be trained.
There are still jobs don’t worry but there will be less in 3 years if there are no investments! I have heard many call centres will be closed, that’s all I have heard! But take courage, sacrifice pays!
Strictly speaking, call centers are not IT companies… and, so, I couldn’t be bothered less if they close :-)
It’s true, though, that IT companies in Mauritius have been complaining a lot for the past few years about the lack of skilled professionals in Mauritius. But, in all fairness, those companies are modern zone-franche companies.
What Mauritius really needs is a few successful startups with entrepreneurs of great vision, talent and business flair… In other words, Mauritius must transform itself into a mini (mini mini mini mini) Silicon Valley.
Mr Avinash, do you know where in Mauritius which gives course on laptop technician?
I don’t really know, @Ali. Maybe you should ask someone working somewhere where laptops are sold… and, subsequently, repaired :-)
First, congrats for this nice blog.
I don`t know if it`s the right place to ask this question, still I will post mine. Are there institutions giving microsoft certifications courses, like MCTS, MCPD etc.
I would like to know those who don`t only give courses only for money sake, but rather professional
@MIMI, yes at V-ITMI Quatre Bornes!
Don’t forget about Knowledge Seven Ltd (my own company) for all your non-Microsoft needs :-)
We provide quality Linux and other Open Source Software consultancy, support and training in Mauritius. We have expertise in Open Source Software such as Linux (including Red Hat Enterprise Linux and SuSE Linux), Android, MySQL, PostgreSQL, Java, Spring, Hibernate, PHP, Apache, Squid, Samba, OpenOffice, Firefox, WordPress, Drupal, MediaWiki, etc.
@ Mimi
For what i’ve been most training instutions will speak of money
first before quality of training..*coughs*
Well i’m a certified MCTS and MCP… soon MCSE
The route i’ve followed for microsoft courses is by self studing at my own pace..however i will need a training instution as i plan to do ccna,,i’m sure their practical labs will be helpful.
However I dont trust these so called training instutions who are simply miney minded business just my personnal opinion..*ahem*
Well if you wanna follow my route..you’re most welcome to do it.
Good Luck mimi and…miaw ;-) (sorry couldn’t help lol)
@JT
You’re right. I’ve heard from my trainees that a lot of the training institutions in Mauritius do not really provide quality courses. It seems that the main problem is the lack of quality lecturers.
Like you, I tend to learn things by myself. But I also do understand the need for IT and HR managers to train people regularly (and to budgetise for that) as (i) technology tends to change very quickly and (ii) some people find it better to follow a training than read book(s).
I got a job as IT Technical Consultant but I refused!
Mr Avinash, tell me, is programming like visual basic is difficult? I have never done this before! I’m poor in Maths also!
Dear @Ali,
Programming is hard. Some people get it naturally. Some people spend years and years learning it and still it never becomes “easy.” The reason is because programming is literary work just like writing a novel or making a film.
Until you try, you’ll never know in which camp you belong.
If I were you, I would skip Visual Basic (which is more of a prototyping environment…) and go for something like Python or Ruby instead (this online Ruby tutorial is fun.)
But I can’t skip VB man! It’s in my syllabus! I will try to do it and learn it even it’s complicated! Sacrifice must pay! What do you think?
If VB is asked in your syllabus then, of course, you should “do” it.
But VB is just a nice prototyping environment. Try many programming languages. And do follow what works in other universities.
Ok. Hmmm…by the way which programming is the easiest to learn? Or give me some types of programming which are easy and as well as difficult to learn! According to you!
Personally, I find all programming languages easy to learn… because, well, I am geek.
I don’t know your level of geekiness so I can’t comment. But people say that programming languages like Python and Ruby are very approachable…
Lol, I’m new in programming. In my first year, the programming modules are ‘VB’ and ‘programming’ itself. Second year, ‘Advanced VB’ and ‘Advanced Programming’. I have found many good tutorials of VB for dummies like me on net. I’m doing International Diploma in Computer Studies. Hahaha, mo koné ou pu zour mw dan ou leker la lol.
:-)
More seriously, try to learn different programming languages by yourself. Most applications being developed now are web-based so learn how to build them. PHP is easy to understand but somewhat obscure because of its C heritage. Python and Ruby have excellent web frameworks like Django and Ruby On Rails.
Ok I will do it. I’m going to search a job as part time as well to finance the course. It’s Rs 35,000 first year-SHIT! I’m afraid of being unemployed after completing the diploma and degree!
Remember: it’s an investment. And, something else, most banks do provide education loans. Call them and ask about terms and conditions. It’s tough to work and study at the same time.
I know it’s tough but I have to do it! I can’t take loans as well. I have writtens several articles for a website so I’m searching job like this or also IT technician, helpdesk support etc…
Good luck :-)
HI Mr Avinash,
You are doing a great job here. I’m 25 years old, HSC holder, A+ (certificate of participation), MCTS certificate Win7 – configuration. I’m planning to get MCITP, CCNA and then BCS diploma. However, I have a question is the BCS diploma recognize in Mauritius that is, do you think an employer will consider the BCS diploma compare to a diploma obtained at UTM or UOM?. Also, what is the percentage of getting a job with self studying ,self practice with simulator like VM ware workstation or do you think that I must search for an institutions for the courses (I’m limited financially) .My goal is to be a network administrator.
please Can you advise?
Thanks!!!!!!
Companies recruit people with skills and good attitude. So if you are confident you have the skill and understand what working means, then the exact type of qualification you have is somewhat secondary…
@ Julio good luck in finding the right motivation and enough time for self-studying and believing that you are going to get employed justy with qualifications … i’m not discouraging you in your studies on your own but i’m rather being realistic and suggest you to make clear decisions before you embark on self-study and not thining about getting experience ;-)
humm..knows some unemployed degree holders still waiting to get their first job.
I wonder whats happening.
Is it just me or is the level of unemployment in the it sector rising ?
Are you sure they’re skilled enough? A degree does not necessarily mean you can be productive immediately. And, unfortunately, this is what some companies would like.
In other words as some people says above. Its not worth the hundreds of thousands cash/loan investments in studies here in mauritius, to not get return on investment on this same land!! Not worth it.
Unfortunate for some but fortunately doctors & lawyers still seems to get good return from their study investment.
All you guyz here, question to you:
Are you satisfied with the network speed connection available?
Would’nt it be better to have a 5 MB up/down local connection to every subscriber then a choice of 256/512/1000/2000/4000/6000 Kbps on internet?
Nobody out there feel the need for this?
No request, No petition, No move from GM neither MT…
For how long more to wait. Am I the only one feeling the struggle!?
Such a small surface area like Mauritius…
@Vince
The important thing is for people to realise that they need to acquire a skill during their studies. Theory is crucial but someone employed as a programmer (for example) also needs to know how to program following industry best practices (for example).
This is what is lacking here in Mauritius at this moment. And this is a serious problem which needs to be addressed. People are simply not skillful enough.
As for the bandwidth, of course, we’ll all love more of it. But can we pay?
Why retirement age of 60yrs no longer applicable? young and dynamic persons sucks to find a job in MRU. Its in all fields, irrespective of qualifications. if you want to have an idea about the real situation, just mail your CV to any company on orAnge.mu job seeker section or on any Mauritian job website… you will get no reply or 1 REPLY out of 50… And see PSC jobs, for the 1st interview for a clerical clerk, the interview location will be crowded with almost a thousand candidates! That’s Mauritius! And some shameless politicians dare say, there are more jobs available here than are people willing to work!
Here in Mauritius people concentrate on stuff of no or little importance, only a few are really willing to bring a change, but they are discouraged by others incompetency. Is it important to make a debate about casteism in 2010? why medias not talk about important matters?
De nos jours, si dans journal pena crime, viol, vol…dimun dire “journal la pa interessant azordi”.. medias p pourir dimun so mentaliter, incite a la haine, faire palabre… et resultat c koi?
With proof I can say that most centers for Private courses in Mauritius are operating Illegally. In Some cases, they are not accredited to universities from abroad but local Authorities gave them Accreditation(I have proof) !!!
Ena dimun malang dans sa pays la selmant!
Comment est-ce- possible?? et pire, when I did complain to all authorities concerned, most of them discarded me! Ici a maurice faudrait ki ban victim, ke se soit chaumeur ou autre servi laforce, violence..lerla medias pu couvert larticle et les authoriter pu “ouvert liyeux”..apres la mort la tizane.
My pov is SHWA= Study Here, Work Abroad. A friend of mine worked in uk, and saved 4 times as much for same time period. Work 1 year there or 4 years here? choose!
@ vince..
Lol.. 5mb connection? In hope of a winning ticket from loto draw!
I recently got a quotation for mt business connection. Being jobless, I thought opening a small enterprise..
for 256kbps : Rs 920 + 57cts/Mb after only 3Gb per Month.
or chose 256kbps unlimited at Rs 2070 per Month.
for 512kbps: Rs 1495 + 57cts/Mb after 5Gb per month.
or chose 512kbps unlimited at Rs 2875 per month.
for 2mb connection its Rs 10,235, s’il vous plait..
On top of that, additional charges of:
Rs 2300- Line Conversation.
2000- Deposit.
1150- Adsl Installation.
Now Imagine 5Mb price! lol. mo penser ena sa service la, mais selment MT mem honter pu dire prix la!lol.
You know whats more shameful? last time, mt reported having reached 1 billion sms cap!, and what gifts they gave us? discount?
There’s an old school song which goes well with all what’s going on now :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OHNuBxsr16Y
@Ashley
You wrote: “Study Here, Work Abroad.”
I did: “Study Abroad, Work Here.” I studied in France for 5 years and have been working here in Mauritius for the past 12 years. I find working in your own country and being the master of your own destiny (which is what happens when you run your own business) great.
You mention that a lot of young people are having difficulties finding a job. I have talked to some business owners and they complain that a lot of job seekers lack skills and/or lack a good attitude towards work. And that’s why they are reluctant to take the risk to recruit them…
@Ashley and others.
Yep expensive but MT and Govt could have think of it this way: Being expensive to have all those DSLAM/IPDSLAM for connecting everybody, they could go full IP only with servers, switches and accesspoint at half /even third the price for a local only, big LAN with a choice of wired ethernet connection and wireless connection. A LAN without internet or limited internet, from this network users can subscribe for internet connections and access a vpn gateway at ISP for internet IP address through VPN client device on client premisses. Everybodys connection will never be lower than 2MBps locally. Such setup will even offer more control of the network, much more easier to troubleshoot/monitor. Even VOIP to everybody in the country at fix rate per month.
All the blabla since the government said that mauritius will be a cyberisland, nothing is done. stuck.
Lots of money wasting. Investing in mode of communication for covering thousands of square Km for a per 20km2 area coverage!
Mauritius is a small surface area, high population per spot only.
How would one set up a network on ile aux serpents?
What apply for Y does not C!
Also saw lots of businesses investing in expensive innapropriate cisco equipment.
Call centres with 1 PC per user!! En plus vista license par poste!!!!
–FUTURE OF MAURITIAN CYBERCITY–
Where are we going!!??
Waste waste waste!
This means mauritian have too much money!!
well said vince!!
though i need to check on the DSLAM/IPDSLAM thing.
want to understand why mauritius telecom charges so much for a slow adsl speed … anyone?
I once talked with someone from there. In essence, MT is not making a profit with ADSL: the initial investment has not been recouped yet. In other words, ADSL in Mauritius ought to have been more expensive but the Government has asked MT to sell it at its current price to allow more of us to be online.
Bandwidth is not cheap because Mauritius is so far from the big countries. There are only two things that can be done to have higher bandwidth:
(1) Mauritius pay more => MT gets some bigger pipes to the US and Europe and voilà …
(2) We get more and more servers in the country (that’s what Akamai and Google did last year.) Anyone willing to setup a hosting business in Mauritius?
Yep, then why see only europe for our main fiber interconnection, why not chilie, pakistan, australia – for our situation, would have been also a good choice going through south america.
A shame after the visit of our pm in france, those who were there know for sure, when some big french businessman inquire about bandwidth available here to do business after the pm happening in france, it a slap in our face.
Heard in the info last week that gm will be encouraging independant firm to interconnect the island via fibres offering more links abroad. I just hope that licensing fees will be review to really encourage them.
I think a national LAN would be the way to go while more internet pipes comes to be available to us.
GM must drop price to encourage independent local firm to set up a local LAN
http://www.icta.mu/documents/license27ju.pdf
Saying “the initial investment has not been recouped yet.” is like saying that mbc has not enough cash to pay fees for the retransmission of a uk football match!! we all pay 100 rs monthly to the mbc!!
MT & GM want to invest today and see the fruits of their investment yesterday!!
Again same as the issue independent power producers and GM. After the deal some IPP already invest a lot of cash for return on investment very far from now and gm is now forcing them to drop their resell price!! Stupid GM! plante pomme de terr apré tou lee matin al fouyy later gueté si fini gagn pom de terr!!!
Members of the Government of the DODO island cant be PHOENIX, they, for sure are DODOs!!
@ JT
Just because we all shut our mouth, use MT internet connection at the actual price and at the end of the month pay our bills, what society want us to be, good citizens.
Why not terminate our subscription, I mean all MT internet subscribers terminate their subscription, say next month. ;) :)
Licensing fees prevent others to start in this business, MT have everything set up already to offer 25Mb local connection, now they just wait for offer from the competitor to drop their price.
No competitor = no price drop.
High license fee = no competitor.
Have a look at the court case between Emtel and MT you will understand.
ICTA & MT & GM is one block.
Money, money, money…
I would welcome more competition in this sector too. And I would love seeing someone setting up a great hosting service in the island so that we can leverage the 2Mbit/s we already have when using MyT.
Yeps thats a great idea.. Mr. Avinash u know what I was thinking of..well If it was possible setting up a torrentflux script on a local server… it means downloading up to 2mbps for same price… There are some great Ebooks collection on torrent, Tutorials but it 5uck5 to download with a 512kbps.. I recently pay for sharing servers, but it take so much time to download.
By the way, is it legal that Mt says to all client that there’s a “5 Gb” download limit on 512kb connection, when its totally false?
Infact I was hesitant the day i signed the Mt contract.. I said to myself 5Gb/month..pfff… how many years to fill up a 1 Tera Hdd… But, sometime it happens I download up to 5Gb/day, without any change in speed.. I watch youtube clip at ease,as before 5Gb”limit”.. I have approx 58kbps down anytime, even after about 80Gb download/month.
Mt also says that Mt doesn’t support torrent software, I use utorrent without any tweak and I get download speed round 54kbps after 15 min… even torrents with low seeders/peers.
Another question, Is it possible to have Satellite broadband in mauritius? well, of course im not talking about services like nomad.. but something like having a dish e.g canalsat, but for internet purpose. Where its direct connection with satellite, stable low packet loss. Was thinking that suppose a movie plays 1h30, with about 4.7Gb transfer via canalsat dish.. it means a stable 52.2kbps. (correct me if im mistaken)
I mean, we can thus bypass Mt!
I think that how BitTorrent is supposed to work. When all Mauritians are downloading the same things and have their ports open, the protocol makes sure that “closest” peers are used.
I don’t think we’ll have satellite internet in mauritius. The problems are (1) latency and (2) uplink… Even with satellite, you still need to have a “wire” in the other direction. So you can’t just bypass MT :-)
little thought for all of you guyz:
why no set up a network ourselves, each of you/us surely have some friends in your neighborhood within a 300mtrs range.
As in the previous message, many on the island downloads the same files.
Or see it this way: you go to the videoshop and take a film and the otherday you meet you neighbour on your way to work and he share with you that he bought this same title last week at the same videoshop!
If your neighbour had a repository where he can drop all his non personal files like pdfs, video, etc… which give access to these files to all his friends in the neighborhood, wouldn’t that be great? And everyone can drop their files in that repository, with a login and web page where all of the users of this repository can write down the files/movies/songs they are on the way to acquire or looking for.
With such a private network most of the low internet bandwidth will not be a real issue.
People should put their selfishness sideways and think different.
The financially easy set up the hosting, the less financially easy invest in accesspoint only.
If well planned, connection within all node will not be below 4MBps.
Also provide good encrypted virtual disk image to hold the files with weekly offsite backup.
Setup a good guidelines and usage policy which all users should abide to, teach a minimum of networking to all users for no misuse wasting bandwidth.
Example of very bad network usage in businesses here: one receive a mail of 5MB in his intnet.mu address and he fwd this same mail to 10 colleagues within the same office on their intnet.mu mail!!! No internal mailing, even with internal mailing they find it hard to select a particular mail group for internal mailing!
With linux, pfsense, routers and access point like netgear, openwrt, old pc – hosting and setup should not exceed RS 12000 for a reliable and functional 2.5 TB shared storage – on the otherhand if have enough cash, other equipment can be use – linksys, ubiquiti, mac mini, qnap, wiebetech etc.
No need for internet on this lan, each individual use his own internet subscription for his internet needs.
All softwares required for setting up such a network are free.
Think about it guyz, don’t do this among relatives only, be open.
Imagine in a small street with 25 houses, you enter in 15 among them and find a copy of the film avatar or any other digital media next to the TV. So u see. If only one person bought it and share it to the other 24 person all the 25 would have save.
There are things we can share like canal sat etc. But other thing worth sharing.
If nobody make a move it will be a lost for everyone and a big mass profit for a single service provider.
If we all do the move it will be a lot to gain for each and everyone of us.
In other words, as much as we can and where it can be, we must be our own service providers.
See the deal: i.e. a pregnant woman today, new born, tooth rot, illness – commodities!!
Unfortunately no luck for the non IT users.
With new guidelines and legal reviews at the ICTA lately most users of the net will soon be in this situation, have a look @ 11.26 here http://www.maritima.info/medias/videos/maritima-tv/journal18102010.mp4
Hey how to get job experience if no one wants to offer you a position.?
i want to know because i’m in difficulty in finding one post as computer technician.i’m tired of people who say they will phone you to come to work but never call back…never ever
Be more proactive, @Lucky.
I speak to a lot of managers and they all tell me the same thing: they always need people with a good attitude towards work. So, when meeting prospective employees, work on convincing them that your attitude is spot on.
(And don’t expect people to call you back. Call them. Be proactive.)
Thanks for the valuable information Mr Meetoo.It seems i was doing it wrong.
http://www.orange.mu/kinews/dossiers/business/267138/mt-propose-des-solutions-integrees-sur-reseau-ip-pour-batiments-intelligents.html
Hi
I am a IT consultant trainer having 9 years of exp in Support and Corporate Training.
I am MCSE,MCITP,MCTS,MCT
How is local Market for Microsoft certified Trainers to work ?
There is always work for skillful people :-)
” Certifications are fine but training is not education. Training is about mastering a product and/or a technology. Education is about becoming, well, adaptable to change (which happens very frequently in our field.)”
So true!!!!!!!!!
Hello Mr Avinash Meetoo,
Fore me also there are huge differences between Information System & Computer Science.
All that I want to tell you guys that Microsoft Certifications is useless ‘ A Maurice ‘ but Cisco & Comptia are the best.
Call Centers are indeed not classified as IT Companies but they have IT Tech & Admin, Web Designers & Network Adminisrators ‘pu zot carmem’ :p