In The News

What if LTE can’t meet the “off-grid” demand? In May 2019, MyBroadband posted an article that quoted Telkom CEO, Sipho Maseko, saying that Telkom recently developed a roadmap concerning the proactive migration of customers to newer infrastructure. “We are hoping that in the next five years we would have exited copper entirely,” says Maseko. This means that if it is successful with its plan, Telkom’s operational network would primarily comprise mobile, LTE, and fibre technology. At the same press event, Maseko continued to say that the company’s fixed-broadband sub

Introduction Die Duine Farmhouse is the base of Tok Tokkie Trails. They host 2 night /3 day walking safari through the mountainous terrain and sandy dunes in the NamibRand Nature Reserve. The hiking trail is for walkers who would like to experience close contact with nature. The guides have an in-depth knowledge of the area and will enthusiastically share how the fascinating desert flora survives, how insect and reptile life adapts to the harsh environment and how mammals can survive without water. The Challenge Die Duine is surrounded by desert and there ar

Temporary Installation at Tourism Expo Namibia The Namibia Tourism Expo is held on an annual basis in Windhoek. The expo showcases products of local, regional and international establishments and also features cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts exhibitions, food, beer and wine tasting, car shows and a host of other fun activities to attract travel enthusiasts and the general public. In the previous years, the temporary connectivity that was installed was unreliable. The network was slow and kept losing connection. There was an option of paying with cash but it would be saf

Why satellite is a better “off-grid” option For now, fibre will remain the primary means of building communication networks. Once installed, fibre networks enable reliable broadband and corporate networks. The challenge is to get it installed, and while you are waiting for your fibre connection, the choices are LTE or satellite. Most network architects won’t actually consider satellite as an option. For them, the only alternative is LTE. The reason satellite is not considered an alternative is mainly due to bad past experiences and personal perceptions fueled by old info

Introduction The Mall of Africa doors open in April 2016. The total retail area is 131 000 sqm and has 6500 parking bays. Its’ inside decor takes its inspiration from the forests of central Africa, the great lakes in the east of the continent, the oil and trade of the west, the sand of the North African desert and the mineral wealth of southern Africa. There are over 300 shops, many of which are flagship stores. The Challenge FNB has one of their branches in the Mall of Africa. The VSAT was installed as a backup to the Branch, should their communication channel fail

Introduction The Namibia Tourism Expo is held on an annual basis in Windhoek. In 1999 there were 45 exhibitors, this year’s expo attracted over 300 local and international exhibitors. The expo showcases products of local, regional and international establishments and also features cooking demonstrations, arts and crafts, food, beer and wine tasting, car shows and a host of other fun activities to attract travel enthusiasts and the general public. The Challenge There is no form of a communication network structure at the showgrounds. In the previous years

Twoobii becomes part of Namib Race 2019 The Namib race is held in the remote Skeleton Coast National Park in Namibia. It is part of an Ultra Marathon series which comprises of New Zealand, Namib Desert, Atacama Desert and Antarctica. The competitors run a total of 1000 km in 4 series. The challenge for the organizers of the race was that there is no communication along the skeleton coast and radio communications did not work previously at the checkpoints. Twoobii Satellite mobile dish was dismantled and re-assembled at each checkpoint. A Cybertent equipped with laptops and tablets

The annual RacingThePlanet in Namibia Introduction The Namib Race is part of a 4-series RacingThePlanet UltraMarathon. The 2019 UltraMarathon series comprises of New Zealand, Namib Desert, Atacama Desert and Antarctica where all of the competitors run a total of 1000 km. The Namib Race 2019 was held in the remote Skeleton Coast National Park in Namibia where the competitors faced tough conditions of running in the hot desert sun with temperatures soaring up to 40 degrees. The Challenge There is no communication along the skeleton coast... it is only home to wi

A possible road map scenario to the final goal.   Introduction   On May 23rd 2019 SpaceX successfully launched the 1st 60 satellites of the planned 12,000 low orbit satellite constellation as the start of Elon Musk’s audacious 10-year $10 billion broadband space program. SpaceX just took a giant leap towards making global internet coverage a reality as its fifth Falcon 9 rocket of the year took flight on Thursday evening (May 23), sending 60 internet-beaming satellites into space.    Starlink Network   Known as StarLink, the satellite constella