Information Computer School

[randomness]

This is my first listing for an internet provider. I stumbled across it visiting the department store/supermarket on the other side of the street.

Information Computer School
#18, Street 214 (Boeng Raing)
Khan Duan Penh
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
tel 023.724062/722665
email: lcs@camnet.com.kh
http://www.lcs.edu.kh

In general, retail internet connectivity in Cambodia sucks. Internet cafes are everywhere but they are painfully slow to connect to any site outside the country and many of those within.

(This is in stark contrast to a place like Mozambique, where connectivity was surprisingly good; so good, in fact, that I mentioned it on IRC and rmd, among others, checked ping times to my address. We theorized that it was late enough at night (and the country was so poor) that I might have been the only person using the available pipe out of Maputo.)

Most of the cafes in Cambodia cater to foreigners. Many of these foreigners are cursing a lot as they wait for pages to load. And wait. And wait.

Information Computer School is a refreshing exception. It probably helps that ICS is run by people who actually know something about computing, as opposed to a bunch of guys who threw a LAN together to make some money. The folks at ICS seem to be able to get real connectivity.

For this you pay slightly more than everyone else. Say, about $2 an hour instead of $1. Functionally, though, you probably save money because you're not waiting for your data to be sucked through a wet shoelace.

Also, because they appear to have some IT clue, their hardware is newer and better kept, and they have working air conditioning. (How most of the other places keep their computers running in the tropical heat is beyond me.)

The disadvantage of ICS is that they actually do this as a sideline to their computer school. If they're teaching classes, I imagine the students take priority. Also, they keep regular working hours, unlike the cafes, which are open late into the evening.

Comments

[sweetmmeblue.livejournal.com]

One of my classmates is leaving Sunday to go to Cambodia. He'll be there for a month. He's going to visit family as he's Cambodian. How long will you be there?

[cityratbuddy.livejournal.com]

I was actually pretty impressed about the speed of the net in Phnom Penh in Feb 04. Granted I was only there a few days, but I remember no slow connections at any of the net cafes along Sisowath Quay. I think many of the places advertise that they have high speed internet or DSL. I forget the exact term used. Livejournal loaded just as quickly as it might in a net cafe in the US. And it was a _lot_ cheaper!

Siem Reap was another story. My guest house had a decent setup, but I recall trying to use a net cafe, but being unable to connect to hotmail.com.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Oh, I'm not there right now; this is all backlogged stuff...

Sorry to be confusing!

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Wow, I'm glad you were luckier than I was. The net cafes along Sisowath Quay were the inspiration for my posting. God, they were slow.

There's one particularly good internet provider in Siem Reap that I mean to post about; thanks for the reminder! Most of the others totally sucked.

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

I suspect the quality of ISPs is determined more by the local business climate. Telecom is heavily regulated in many places, and in some countries, an existing company can keep out competitors quite effectively.

Mozambique is the poorest country in the world, and yet I met someone there and asked him how business was and he said it was pretty good right now but he was worried. He said he'd been the monopoly Internet provider, but that competition was on its way. -- Lawrence Summers