Dueling Satellites: Who Will Launch the Highest Bandwidth Satellite Ever?

Author's Late Note: Nov 18, 2011

The satellite did launch and deploy successfully during the week of 10/16/2011, and is in at least a 60 day wait trial. The "beam spot" for those lucky-enough to see true wide-band will be on the West Coast of N. America and the East Coast, according to the Facebook Site for WildBlue. In the Mountain States and parts of the Mid-West, we'll be given higher bandwidth using the existing satellite, up to 6 or so MBPS (megabits per second). This is many times more speed than we have now in Northern Arizona. Don't expect to see changes or plan upgrades until after January, 2012, however do contact WildBlue with questions at 866-876-8439. I know that I'm waiting for better bandwidth!

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Satellite communication technology beams television, internet, and (to a limited extent) telephone communications worldwide. Those dish-shaped antennas are everywhere, and provide decent competition with terrestrial-based cable providers and a great option for television, especially, from my own personal experience.

The concept of competition evaporates, however, when one is out "in the sticks," where only cell phone signals might be found (if you're lucky). Yes, the skies are dark at night with endless stars, and we're far from traffic jams and honking horns. But there are certainly no internet cables in these parts. For us, we don't care who wins the satellite bandwidth race, so long as prices become friendlier, bandwidth becomes better, and "fair access policies" are not enforced intractably.

Latency: aye, there's the rub! It's the time it takes for a signal to go from one point to another, and with satellites, that time can be enough to make some internet-based technologies unfeasible. For example, internet phones (VOIP) don't work, and sometimes "Vendor Provided Networks" will not operate well, if at all. Online interactive gaming is also going to be a potential show-stopper. This is a simple issue of physics, which cannot be resolved: a fact-of-life.

Therefore, those in life-rural must rely on cell phones and satellite technology, exclusively. In our area, the concept of broadband is also taken with a grain-of-salt, as it seems that often there's much wanting with a 1 mbps connection that runs $75 a month. A check of the "Wildblue Facebook page" reveals compliments and complaints. As a user of Wildblue for my internet, I must admit I have few complaints, other than "more bandwidth please!" and a rather high price.

Viasat 1, which now owns Wildblue, claims to be the highest (potential) bandwidth-capable satellite in the world. This satellite is waiting-for yet another launch date after a scheduling problem prevented launching at the end September, 2011. The bus-sized communications satellite (the Wildblue Facebook page has photos of it) has had a decent set of problems since inception, but it is expected to bring much better bandwidth and more subscription options to the rural masses who have but satellite as their only internet option. The articles and press releases claim transmission rates up to 150 gpbs.

ViaSat 1 articles show its progression to what may be a mid-October 2011 launch of Viasat 1 at the Cosmodrome in Kazakhsta (update: per Wildblue's Facebook page on Oct 12, 2011, the launch is indeed slated for next week, week of Oct 16, 2011).

January 13, 2011: The satellite's launch was delayed until Summer 2011 following some unfortunate mishandling. http://www.viasat.com/news/viasat-reschedules-launch-viasat-1

July 20, 2011: Press Release on Viasat 1.

July 22, 2011: Satellite specifics and suspected solar panel problems.

August 19^th, 2011: More discussion of the problems…hydraulics, etc.

September 8, 2011: Press Release on Viasat 1 for October Launch.

Please note the current Cosmodrome launch schedule. The anticipated launch date for Viasat 1 is mid-October, 2011. For some more information and photos, try these links.

Hughesnet plans to offer its own behemoth, with a launch date some 9 to 12 months into the future. This satellite, named Jupiter, is billed to offer 100 gbps capacity or more, and should help raise the stakes to add competition and bandwidth.

I used Hughesnet for a time but stopped, as did a neighbor of mine. Reason: outsourcing, a pet peeve of mine. I found Wildblue Satellite, a provider who uses US-based customer service representatives. I favor our country's own resources for customer service, as opposed to someone across the waves, whom I cannot sometimes understand. As a user of Wildblue, I cannot necessarily recommend them per-se, due to conflict-of-interest, and if you've got terrestrial solutions, go for those first.

However, as the bookmarked article mentions, and regardless of the provider, prices are currently disproportionately high (compared to terrestrial cable) and bandwidth is no where near real broadband (5 mbps or better would be nice). Surely, cost of deployment of satellite-based internet is "astronomical" (pun intended) compared to terrestrial-based cable providers, so one must expect these companies to operate for profit.

Of course, launches can still be delayed due to weather or malfunctions. Of course, it will take at least two months to fully deploy Viasat 1 if it launches as scheduled. Of course, there will be equipment upgrades to consider and glitches. Of course, latency will not go away.

But, if we can see lower prices and higher bandwidth without the fair access policy (which limits how much one can physically download in a moving 30-day window), we may well see much better internet service in our rural areas in the coming year.

We in this "rural position" remain guarded yet hopeful of a better outcome.