Standard Bank has entered into a three-year contract with Telkom for the supply of 400 Internet Protocol-based broadband satellite terminals to power ATMs in remote areas.
Herman Singh, director of technology engineering at Standard Bank, says a pilot project has been under way for the past three months.
"This is the first VSAT broadband solution for ATMs in SA. To date, 13 terminals have been opened in deep rural areas while another 15 have been opened in urban townships. The satellite's per unit cost is R2 000 each and will be rolled out over a year."
The focus of the project is previously unbanked or underbanked areas. "The satellite links meet our need to provide electronic services in areas where branches are not commercially sustainable and where landlines have proven unreliable," says Singh.
The bank says the satellite ATMs have a flexible and simple set-up process, which helps in rolling out banking in areas where terrestrial communication services are difficult to implement.
Singh notes that the copper wiring used for terrestrial connection is also very expensive and often stolen. "It is hard to maintain uptime in the face of theft, which is bigger in the remote areas."
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