SOUTH AFRICA -- South Africa's Absa Bank plans to increase the number of its satellite-connected ATMs in 2002, according to a report in the City Press.
Currently, 123 of the bank's 2,400 ATMs are connected to the Absa processing center by satellite, but that number is expected to increase to 800 by May 15.
According to the bank, ATMs linked to the main processing hub through the landline telecommunications network are vulnerable to breakdowns in the telephone system as well as the theft of and damage to cables. Cable faults and a deterioration in landline services have already forced Absa to provide duplicate datalines to the branches.
Downloads of software to satellite-linked ATMs are also expected to be more efficient than to those connected via landline, according to the bank. Absa's Self Service Channel department installs new versions of software on the ATMs at least eight times a year.
The installation of a small aperture satellite dish and reception equipment at each ATM site will be managed as a joint project between Absa and telecommunications operator Telkom, which in 1997 was awarded a license by South Africa's Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting that gives it the exclusive right to provide public switched telecommunications services for a period of no less than five years.
In 2001, Absa became the first financial services institution to enter into a strategic alliance with Telkom.
Data from all the ATM sites linked through satellite will be fed to Telkom's SpaceStream system to their earth station at Hartebeeshoek, from where high bandwidth landlines will link these sites to the Absa computer centers.
Jan de Villiers, general manager of Absa's Self Service Channel, said, "The advantage of the satellite solution from a maintenance and upgrade point of view is that the time delay from time of request for an installation up to the point of operation is less than five days, compared to the 40 working days for landline applications. It will help to show Absa's flexibility and ability to act fast."
"It also means that we can put ATMs in rural areas where telecommunication infrastructure is either thin or vulnerable to disruption," de Villiers said.
De Villiers said that more than 42 percent of all transactions are performed at remote ATM sites. About 53 percent of all ATMs are physically based at remote sites, away from Absa outlets.
