Ok so we might moan about our internet speeds from time to time but at least transmitting data via the internet is faster than using a carrier pigeon, or is it?
An employee from Unlimited IT Company in South Africa was complaining about the transmission speeds of the ASDL Internet and commented that it would be faster with a carrier pigeon. So, what better way to find out if this was actually true than to put it to the test.
“We renown ourselves on being innovative, so we decided to test that statement,” Unlimited’s Kevin Rolfe told the Beeld newspaper.
In flies Winston, an 11 month old pigeon to perform the stunt. Winston had a 4 GB data card strapped to his leg and set off for the 80 kilometre journey from Unlimited IT’s call centre in Howick to deliver the message to the company’s office in Durban.
At the same time the data download was started via Telkom, the country’s leading Internet Service provider.
Winston took just over an hour to fly the distance and it took another hour to download the data. Altogether the whole process took roughly two hours and seven minutes.
This might seem a tad lengthy but it is nothing when it is compared to the time it took to send the message via Telkom.
By the time Winston’s message was safely delivered and installed the Telkom transmission was only 4 percent complete so there’s no doubt that Winston won by a huge margin.
As with any ‘race’ there were strict rules in place to ensure that neither Winston nor Telkom had an unfair advantage, for example no performance enhancing seeds were to be given and no cats were allowed.
The race caught the attention of the public and hundreds of South Africans followed the regular updates on Facebook and Twitter and on Winston’s own website at pigeonrace2009 dot co dot za.
Apparently Winston is “over the moon” at winning the race and is now “chilling with friends” says Rolfe.
Yes there is a bandwidth shortage in South Africa and we know that it costs an arm and leg but there is hope on the horizon though so no need for anyone to invest in a pigeon just yet.
Internet speeds are expected to improve when a new 17,000 kilometre underwater fibre optic cable is installed which will link South Africa and East Africa to other networks.
Well done Winston.
If you want to find out all the latest news on tech why not subscribe to our RSS feed?
What a genius idea. I love how the company–Unlimited IT–didn’t just make a threat or joke about an internet vs. pigeon experiment. They actually conducted it.
It’s even better that the pigeon was truly faster. That’s a somewhat depressing thought for internet users in South Africa. But maybe now Telkom and the country’s government will notice and take a little more time working to speed up the sluggish ASDL that is set up throughout the country. It could only improve things.
I watched a short, interesting video on this whole pigeon affair at newsy.com earlier today. The video is well-made and shows a few different sources/opinions on South Africa’s internet discussion. If you have a few minutes, it’s worth checking out:
http://www.newsy.com/videos/the_pigeon_and_the_internet