Xbox Gaming in South Africa

Wouldn't it be great if South Africans could download Xbox Live content quickly and cheaply? Players on the Playstation Network have had the luxury for a long time now, so why not for Xbox Live users? So I did some digging and found out what is required, and I believe that if enough support is shown for the implementation of a local mirror, we too can enjoy the same benefits. Let me explain...

Like many large file distribution services, Xbox Live content is hosted with a Content delivery network (CDN) called Lime Light Networks. These networks have many mirrors around the world, allowing for users to download from the nearest mirror, resulting in fast downloads. Unfortunately, South Africa is without a Lime Light Networks' partner, however, one the biggest ISP's in South Africa, Internet Solutions, has already implemented a similar service for another CDN, Akamai. Some of their customers include Apple.com Movie Trailers, and of course, the Playstation Network. The result is that South Africans downloading from these sources will retrieve the data from locally situated servers, meaning it's fast, and if you buy the cheaper local bandwidth, is a lot cheaper.

So IS already have the know how to implement a CDN mirror, so why not implement a Lime Light Networks mirror. The result: A host of new sites will open up for South Africans, along with locally cached Xbox Live content.

So how do we show our support and help push this idea to the decision makers of IS? Easy, through IS Labs. Setup as a way for consumers to push ideas to IS, IS Labs is the ideal way to show just how many people are wanting the implementation of a Lime Light Networks mirror. To do this, just head over to the IS Labs and vote up the idea. It will only take you a minute or two to register and show your support.

Xbox Live status aside, this is something which I believe could happen with enough support. So head on over and lets make this a reality!

[UPDATE] I spoke to Internet Solutions about the above idea and they seem very interested. They putting it forward internally to the relevant divisions. I guess it's up to the big cheeses to give the go ahead, but it's great to see that the IS staff are getting behind it.

[UPDATE 2] Unfortunately, IS and Limelights could not come to an agreement, and the process has been stopped. Sorry folks. ISLabs.com Update