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Pigeon transfers data faster than South Africa's Telkom
Reuters

Wed Sep 9, 3:54 pm ET

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters)  A South African information technology company on 
Wednesday proved it was faster for them to transmit data with a carrier 
pigeon than to send it using Telkom , the country's leading internet service provider.

Internet speed and connectivity in Africa's largest economy are poor because 
of a bandwidth shortage. It is also expensive.

Local news agency SAPA reported the 11-month-old pigeon, Winston, took one hour 
and eight minutes to fly the 80 km (50 miles) from Unlimited IT's offices near 
Pietermaritzburg to the coastal city of Durban with a data card was strapped to 
his leg.

Including downloading, the transfer took two hours, six minutes and 
57 seconds -- the time it took for only four percent of the data to be 
transferred using a Telkom line.

SAPA said Unlimited IT performed the stunt after becoming frustrated with 
slow internet transmission times.

The company has 11 call-centers around the country and regularly sends 
data to its other branches.

Telkom could not immediately be reached for comment.

Internet speed is expected to improve once a new 17,000 km underwater 
fiber optic cable linking southern and East Africa to other networks becomes 
operational before South Africa hosts the soccer World Cup next year.

Local service providers are currently negotiating deals for more bandwidth.

(Reporting by Peroshni Govender; Editing by Jon Hemming)