Telkom will showcase its latest satellite-based broadband Internet access offering at Computer Faire 2003, scheduled to take place from 13 to 16 May at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg.
Telkom plans to introduce satellite-based broadband access to the Internet for sub-Saharan Africa within the next quarter, and it will be running live demonstrations of this service for the duration of the Computer Faire.
The company recently purchased a Skyblaster 360E satellite hub station from Gilat Satellite Networks to establish a satellite-based broadband Internet access communications network.
"Pilot studies have been completed successfully, and our engineers are now making final adjustments to the equipment," said Telkom`s Chief Sales and Marketing Officer, Nombulelo Moholi.
The new Very Small Apperture Terminal (Vsat) technology allows more effective sharing of the satellite platform, making the service more affordable. Another technological advancement allows for the installation of smaller dishes at the customer site.
This service will enable Internet service providers (ISPs) to offer Internet products via satellite to their customer base. The service to ISPs will be offered as a "best effort" service comprising four distinct packages from 64kbps to 512kbps.
"Demand by business and consumers across the spectrum for broadband access technologies is spiralling as information becomes ever more essential to daily tasks," said Moholi.
"While there are numerous access solutions on offer that optimise terrestrial infrastructure like ISDN, Diginet and ADSL - there is still a gap in the market for an always-on connection to the Internet throughout the sub-continent, with large capacity and reliability at an affordable price. This product will therefore complement the existing Internet access products," she added.
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