THE goal of expanding affordable internet access to every corner of the globe took one small step forward with the announcement last Friday that Maxwell Technology is now providing satellite-based broadband internet for Richards Bay and surrounding areas on the KwaZulu-Natal south coast.
Advances in satellite technology have led to lower prices for this service, making it affordable for regular consumers. Previously it was only sold to medium-sized to large companies.
“Satellite internet has been available for many years but it has always been very costly and, as such, only available to corporations or enterprises that had the budgetary means for this,” said technical director Kallie Carlsen.
The affordability of the service is due in part to “KA band” technology that only reached South African shores last year after gaining popularity and feasibility elsewhere in the world.
Pronounced “kay-ay band”, it spans frequencies between 26.5Ghz and 40GHz and forms part of the microwave band of the electromagnetic spectrum.
“KA band provides a higher spectrum of available frequency,” Mr Carlsen said. “The satellite hardware is highly efficient, thus resulting in a reduction in bandwidth costs and with the ability to deliver service profiles with a greater throughput and thus higher speeds.”
The higher-frequency range of the KA band has increased transmission efficiency and data-carrying capacity. That, along with smaller and cheaper customer equipment needed to transmit the signals, has contributed to the decrease in cost.
“Satellite networks are easily scalable, allowing users to expand their communications networks and their available bandwidth easily,” said Quentin Wadmore, a manager at Cable Wise, the company working with Maxwell to deliver the services in Richards Bay.
Prices have dropped significantly with the introduction of the new technology, falling from R750 for relatively limited access in 2011 to current prices as low as R142 for a standard plan with 1GB of data.
While the service is aimed at all consumer markets, it is gaining the most traction among small rural homes and businesses previously deemed unreachable by any terrestrial means.
Mr Wadmore says that unlike most terrestrial alternatives, “satellite networks can be rolled out quickly and relatively inexpensively, connecting farms and lodges that are in remote locations to the information highway”.
“Satellite networks can be easily integrated to complement, augment or extend any communications network,” Mr Carlsen said.
“They help overcome geographical barriers, terrestrial network limitations and other constraining infrastructure issues.”
Many companies have tried to break into newer, untapped markets yearning for internet services, only to face issues with implementation. Google’s recent “Project Loon”, which uses a string of high-flying balloons to transmit internet connections, has received a lot of press for its innovation but is years from being a feasible means of connectivity.
Maxwell, based in Centurion, Gauteng, hopes to deliver the internet to more places where land lines are nonexistent or hard to come by.
“We view it as an opportunity to (help) start small businesses all over South Africa,” Mr Carlsen said. “In line with this, we have been setting up partnerships in a number of towns, with room for many more.”