Secure Data/Info Transfer ##Secure Data/Info Transfer##
AWS charges \$87/TB of one way transfer, and that's about the cheapest you will find, plus the cost to move the data in and maintain infrastructure. Transferring 10 TB at 1 Gbps will take over 24 hours. Increased speed and security make this a premium service, so 1 hour rush service could charge \$1.00 per mile/lb (slightly more expensive than AWS, but 25x faster), while 2-3 hour standard service could charge \$0.50, and 'no-rush' same day could charge \$0.20 (still faster than AWS, and 1/4th the cost). It would dominate bulk data transfer and long distance corporate courier services, and with that rush service, a single transporter could earn \$20,000/day in revenue, or \$4,000/day at the 'no rush' rate.
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#Exploring the economics of teleportation#
Teleportation as described in this question boils down to the ability to instantly move a mass a distance. The unit can be lb-miles, and a teleporter can move 10,000-30,000 lb-miles per day. Freight haulers even use the term ton-mile when referring to cost to move freight, so in those terms this is 5-15 ton-miles. This isn't a huge volume of freight, a tractor trailer can move up to a 40,000 lb load up to 600 miles in a day, or 24,000,000 lb-miles. 100 total teleporters also puts a hard cap on the size of the enterprise.
There are all kinds of logistics and delivery companies, but teleporters have a few advantages:
- the travel is instant, and
- other constraints like walls, borders, traffic, and gravity don't limit the travel.
Speed is useful for outrunning the competition, and for specific scenarios where speed or freshness are key. Fresh tuna was given as an example given by James. Data transfer, hot shot delivery, a courier service, and more all take advantage of the speed to compete with traditional businesses.
Avoiding the constraints of gravity make asteroid or diamond mining possible, but there are other limitations. If the monk has to go to outer space to grab an asteroid and carry it home then they will need PPE, reducing their effectiveness. Mining has a lot of additional costs beyond moving material out of the earth. Avoiding border crossings makes smuggling viable, including moving state or corporate secrets.
Being able to teleport through walls also allows entry to anywhere. If stealing and spying are out of bounds, there is the possibility to teleport into a doorless vault or void in a mountain, allowing extremely secure storage. If there are degrees of permitted surveillance, a private investigator that could bypass security and access files, place surveillance equipment, take photos, etc.
Instant transportation of relatively low mass objects has three possible target markets:
- As a service provided to a handful of organizations, like providing secure transport of documents for governments or corporations with long, stable contracts and not too many customer interactions.
- Targeting a specific niche. Asteroid mining, owning a deep mine, or smuggling across a specific border all allow a fixed working location with very little outside interaction.
- Service provided to the public, like Fedex. Strict security and controls would be needed to maintain secrecy, and a good cover story would be needed. A cover business could be built that might end up being more lucrative than the initial business as well.
