The surgeons were undergoing training and had instant access to some of the top brains in the field as they worked.

The live video streaming, along with a chat facility, allowed the surgeons to ask questions and make comments from Johannesburg as the operation in Australia progressed. At the same time a similar Internet connection was made so doctors in London could witness the operation.

It took some sophisticated technology to link Johannesburg with Australia via Chicago and a fibre optic connection was used which meant the visual signal was at near VHS video quality.

Dion Fowles, Infrastructure Manager , says IS, in partnership with The Antfarm, is the first in South Africa to offer the service on a fibre optic link.

"In the past, signals had to be carried by satellite and this results in transmission breakup as images are relayed between earth stations.

"The South African doctors watched the operation on big screens and were so impressed that they are coming back for more training using this technology," he says.

The link to Australia via Chicago was set up at very short notice - IS and The Antfarm technicians had just two days to make sure everything was in place for the high-speed Internet transmission.

Saki Missaikos, Business Solutions Director at IS, says fibre-based interactive streaming will be offered as a service to the broader business community in future.

"There are huge cost savings that can be achieved," he says.

"For example, it would cost thousands of rands to send ten doctors to Australia. By doing their training over the Internet, they saved on airfares, accommodation, food and other transport costs. At the same time, they spent just a few hours out of the office away from their patients.

"We expect to see tremendous growth in the use of live video streaming as it allows skills to be transferred from wherever experts are in the world," says Missaikos.