SA Broadband: an envelope, a stamp, and a CD - Literally!

From a Business Day article posted on myadsl:

The complex task of building Salt, the biggest optical telescope in the southern hemisphere, was achieved on time, on spec and on budget.

And the thing works pretty darn well too according to its resident scientists, who are already snapping sterling pictures of the stars above.

Only trouble is, they are having tremendous difficulties sharing their information with their colleagues across the globe.

One of Salt’s most important features is the fact that it is used to collect astronomical data without scientists having to travel to the site — the local crew take pictures of various heavenly bodies, and are theoretically supposed to send the info off to their buddies via the internet.

But no, that pesky telecoms monopoly Telkom is getting in the way again. And, as usual, the insufficient bandwidth and sky high rates mean it is not practical to use the world wide web.

What an insane waste, not to mention loss of face for the South African scientific community. To fulfil the telescope’s intended purpose, the Salt operators must burn their data onto a compact disc and pop it in the post. Snail mail.

This is just insane. The "broadband = envelope + CD" thing is a standing joke in SA, but to see that it is literally true is just heartbreaking. When is the government going to wake up and see that this is not in the best interest of SA?