60ms cross continent

Thu Jul 9 15:51:27 UTC 2020

On Jul 8, 2020, at 3:05 AM, Mark Tinka <mark.tinka at seacom.com> wrote:

>Satellite earth stations are not irrelevant, however. They still do get
>used to provide satellite-based TV services, and can also be used for
>media houses who need to hook up to their network to broadcast video
>when reporting in the region (even though uploading a raw file back
>home over the Internet is where the tech. has now gone).

Oh man I wish that were wholly true... Satellite/VSAT has another very
very important attribute: it's not subject to the whims of the local
government or regulators.  So when there's an election or some unrest or
coup or the prime minister has very bad flatulence, and some person says
"turn off the Internet," your non-terrestrial connection is there so
that you can continue to do business.

Right now I'm in the middle of a project installing more than 300 VSATs,
replacing an incumbent provider, and the rationale for all that money
and all that equipment and all that work is "the bits must flow."

(Plus, there are also still many places outside of capital cities in the
world where the Internet is truly awful and if you want bits, you have
to bring your own)

jms

-- 
Joel M Snyder, 1404 East Lind Road, Tucson, AZ, 85719
Senior Partner, Opus One       Phone: +1 520 324 0494
jms at Opus1.COM                http://www.opus1.com/jms