As South African companies start to do more business internationally, so they are starting to beef up their communication systems. The good news is that high-speed international fibre optic communications are about to become substantially cheaper.
"Data speeds are becoming critical as companies extend their global communication systems and data over fibre optic cable moves about three times faster than over a dedicated satellite link," says Stuart Hardy, general manager of access services at Internet Solutions (IS).
Currently the company is using the SAT 2 undersea link that connects SA, via Spain, to London and New York. The new SAT 3 fibre optic circuit is set to go live in June and this will reduce the costs of fibre optic communications by around 35%.
Says Hardy: "Our fibre links terminate at Teleglobe (Harbour Exchange) in London and in Telehouse Manhattan (New York). Data travelling from SA takes in the region of 220 milliseconds to reach London and 330 milliseconds to get to New York. That`s about a fourth of a second which is super-fast. Companies using our IS Fibre Service benefit from economies of scale achieved by IS purchasing large amounts of fibre so costs are kept down."
Hardy says many companies are choosing to run their business applications internationally and this requires high-speed connections to major destinations such as Europe and the States.
"Some organisations run their ERP and related systems across the globe using the Internet. They need almost instant communications for the software to work correctly and efficiently. The delivery mechanism must be fast enough to limit data corruption and fibre optic fits the bill," he says.
"Satellite systems are more cost-effective and freely available but demand for fibre optic connections is growing because they are faster and more reliable. When the price cuts come in July, we expect a high demand from South African firms for fibre optic connections," says Hardy.
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Internet Solutions (IS) is SA`s leading provider of infrastructure foundations for electronic business and the forerunner in providing companies with effective connectivity solutions. At present, it connects over 1 500 organisations to the Internet and over 3 000 sites through its range of VPN solutions, thus forming the primary electronic business community in SA.
IS offers a fully managed environment together with expertise in areas such as Internet access, VPNs, hosting, dial-up, security and data management. Its best-of-breed infrastructure is without equal and has been the preferred choice of leading companies since 1993.
As the Internet industry leader, IS is also dedicated to sharing its success with others by providing improved access to education and information to all South Africans, particularly previously disadvantaged communities.
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