UK scientists have looked at the cost of transmitting a megabyte to the Hubble Space Telescope and the costs being charged in the UK to send a text message. They took and average of 5p per SMS (about 80 cents in South Africa), which seems correct at peak times.
It would take around 7590 SMSes to send a megabyte which would cost R6072.00. A little steep, yes? It costs about 85 pounds to send a megabyte to the Hubble Space Station, which rendered down to South African currency makes the cost to just over 16 cents.
What makes the price difference worse is that the scientists factored in the costs of staff and processing to make up their 85 pound total per megabyte. So even inflating the cost of the Hubble transmission, it still clocks in at R1360 compared to the six thousand odd that service providers are charging per meg. Something to think about.
Brett Venter
