When pigeons fly faster than broadband

SA Pigeon Faster Than Broadband

Telkom, one of South Africa's largest internet providers, will now have to compete with carrier pigeons. The Unlimited Group conducted an experiment where they attached an encrypted data stick to a carrier pigeon and simultaneously started a download of 4GB. The pigeon flew 50 miles which took it 1 hour and 8 minutes in comparison to the Internet download which took 6 hours. The issue that becomes important here, is not only the quality of the internet service but the fact that South Africans pay the highest price for internet service and it ends up being the least reliable. Internet access has been growing at a slower rate over the past few years. Currently 1 of every 15 people has access to the internet in South Africa. People's access to information directly impacts their socioeconomic status: opportunities, power, educational advancement, inter-connectivity, etc. We live in a global society, and it is through internet access that people are able to engage in that society. I don't believe that it is any coincidence that here in Detroit we have a huge technology gap and that there is a large disparity between suburban and urban dwellers and there is probably a very similar comparison in South Africa.

(More to come in the future).