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The Important Role Reliable Connectivity Plays in the Profits of the Fast Food Industry. Introduction Kentucky Fried Chicken was founded by Harland Sanders (known as Colonel Sanders), who opened his first restaurant in 1952. Kentucky Fried Chicken was later changed to KFC to create a healthier image to consumers, but irrespective of their efforts to develop a health-conscious brand, the most popular dish today still remains their famous original recipe fried chicken. To put their success in perspective: In 2017, KFC held 21 487 restaurants worldwide. In South Africa al

A Review of Available Off-grid Telco Service Options - a User Outline to Select the Most Suitable Options. Selecting the ideal telecommunication services for your business, for broadband Internet access and for voice and video services, is a simple choice when you are in town or any area connected with fibre networks. Fibre will then be your de facto option. All you have to do is select your service provider and service bundles, which are commercial considerations and not a technology selection. If, however, you are in an off-grid location, it is not so simple. “Off-grid” locations

New Technologies Expanding Satellite Markets. Satellite has proved its worth as a connectivity medium in areas where there is no fixed line infrastructure. While it has remained a niche solution as a result of the logistics involved in the installation and management of the dishes, new technology is promising to bring satellite connectivity to new markets that have not been able to use satellite links before. Kymeta, a company created to address the need for lightweight, slim and efficient communication systems that do not require mechanical components to steer toward a satellite, has c

Do You Need a Managed or Broadband Service? What to Consider and Where the Difference Lie. This discussion considers the definition of a “managed service” vs the definition of a “broadband service”. This is one possible area that can create confusion.  Even the trusted Wikipedia does not volunteer a clear definition of the terms “managed service” and “broadband service” as applicable to data or Internet communication services.  The 5 differences listed here are just one possible analysis, and there could be different views and perspectives on these service defi

Why Banks are using Satellite Services. ATMs and PoS devices require reliable connectivity in order to transmit data from their location to a server, and from the server back to their location. Reliable connectivity is therefore essential, as any drops in communication could result in revenue loss, increased operational cost and reduced customer satisfaction. In the case of ATMs, poor connectivity could result in customer loss or worst, brand damage. In the case of a PoS device, poor connectivity could result in the customer being unable to complete a transaction or merchants being unab

Internet of Things - The Opportunity of Satellite in IoT

When will Fibre replace Satellite? A perspective on the need for satellite networks for Africa. International CapacityIndeed, when considering that Africa has reached almost 6Tbps of international access bandwidth at the start of 2017, which is close to a 30% increase from the 4,5Tbps in 2015 the growth is indeed exponential. (Refer Hamilton Research, Africa Telecom Transmission Map) From this perspective it is understandable that fibre networks are becoming the preferred technology to provide primary international trunk services in a point-to-point service delivery configuration.Terrestri

Choose right: Managed Access or Broadband Service.

Why Satellite is Needed for IoT. … and why satellite connectivity will be needed. 20 Billion Internet-of-things devices by 2023 The IoT market in perspective According to the 2017 Growth Enabler market pulse report for IoT, IoT serves two distinct user groups: business and individuals. These two user-groups can then broadly be classified into nine segments as shown in the following diagram:  Internet-of-Things Market Overview Consumer Segment Use-cases are 1) Connected homes 2) Wearables 3) Connected cars and 4) Personal health. For consumers, the value proposit

What's Needed for Large-Scale Satellite Networks. The offline population is disproportionately female, rural, poor, illiterate and elderly. Of the 3.9 billion people that are still unconnected, 58% are female, roughly 60% are rural and at least half come from countries with a GNI/capita of less than US$ (PPP) 6,500. In addition, many spend far in excess of 5% on ICT access and services as a proportion of GNI/ capita, the affordability threshold set by the UN Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development. The success of the mobile market and the rapid adoption of the smart phone is of