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Written By: Melissa Nyman
Who would of thought a transparent, hair-like strand could change the lives of so many people across the globe? First discovered in the early 1840’s, Optic Fibre has travelled years and transformed itself into a resource that’s penetrating the boundaries of technology as we know it. They’re calling it the “Glass Age” and finally Optic Fibre has introduced itself to South Africa.
Here are five exciting ways it can change your life:
1. Super Fast Internet Speeds
The copper lines currently used by Telkom’s infrastructure, experience issues resulting in large amounts of lost data communication, which is why the current browsing speeds are being described as “Helkom”.
By means of light, fibre optic transmits data at higher speeds over longer distances. This is because it is made of glass.
How will this affect you?
– In only 0.03s you can download a High Definition movie that is 4GB in size.
– Buffering will no longer exist while streaming videos.
– No more network drops; No more slow server responsiveness.
2. More Job Opportunities
The revolution of technology is eroding the primitive industrial workforce. It’s given birth to more modern job opportunities in corporations, known as “dot.com” companies.
These are small start-up businesses that use the internet as a means to communicate with foreign investors to expand and disrupt the existing market.
How does this affect you?
South Africa is experiencing its highest unemployment rate since 2012, where 26.4% of its population is left jobless. Optic Fibre promises efficient telecommunication with businesses abroad. This increases the possibility of expansion and should finally result in more job opportunities. It also leaves more room for entrepreneurs to start a business at home, as obtaining a server or running upgrades on a website won’t be affected by downtime.
3. Internet During Outage
Optic fibre doesn’t only rely on electricity, it works effectively on different types of power resources, such as solar power or a battery. This means that businesses and individuals will still be able to use phone lines and the Internet during outages. Ultimately,this results in less profit-loss for businesses, less inconvenience of having no electricity and more safety in South Africa. Speaking about safety…
4. Feeling Safer
With the theft of copper wires and the transportation issues caused by it, Optic Fibre in South Africa could greatly reduce the crime rate. This might seem insignificant but, because of these types of crimes and the ripple effect it has on economy, the introduction of Optic Fibre could be more important than we ever realized.
Stolen copper wires are one of the root causes to Eskom introducing load shedding. When there’s load shedding, it means profit-loss and the increased risk of lawbreakers taking advantage of businesses and individuals.
The reason for the high volume of theft of copper wires is due to their value. Optical Fibre, however, uses less expensive material and will soon replace the old electrical network infrastructure. This will, ultimately, give rise to a safer country, experiencing less outages and having less transportation problems.
Optic Fibre also makes homes less hazardous due to its nature of being an electric insulator and not a conductor.
5. Optic Fibre Trains
Highlighting the safe nature of Optic Fibre, Hong Kong introduced trains running on Optical Fibre communications. The Optic Fibre sensors use vibrations and are able to run at fast speeds, safely. Preventing derailments, electrocutions, and resulting in a more efficient, safer transportation system, Australia and Singapore have also shown interest in investing this initiative.
This means that now that Optic Fibre is here, the future could see “Metrorail” as a thing of the past.
