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Latest Satellite Internet News Here
Wildblue Questions and Answers
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Wildblue Information and Background
February 2006 - Wildblue has now launched the Enterprise Division through several VAR's across the U.S. Later this year Wildblue will launch their own Satellite, WB 1, which will enable the company to provide expanded services and bandwidth to both consumer and business accounts. We are working with Wildblue to provide those services when they become available.
April 1 , 2005 - WildBlue Internet Pricing and Gateway Completions:
NRTC members have confirmed Wild Blue will offer 3 monthly service plans: 512 kbps download speed - $49.95 per mo.; 1MB download speed - $69.95 per mo. and 1.5 MB download speed - $79.95 per mo. The upload speed has been stated by a WB official as ranging from 128 kbps to 256 kbps and will apply to all of the plans. Equipment Cost has been quoted at $299.00 - Installation will run $179.95.
Ka Band Recent History (prior to April, 2005)
"The only Ka game in town in the near future will be WildBlue Communications, who will begin satellite internet service in June. Their Western Gateway is now operating and the other 4 are being installed. June should be a good date. Telesat has some capacity in the US but will not compete with their “customer” WildBlue." This quote came from a very reliable industry leader.
There you have it. Any company offering Ka band service in the U.S. will have to come through Wild Blue it appears.
Ka Band VSAT* satellite internet technology has enormous possibilities for telecommuters, and rural locations. ka band satellite internet is an all new approach to sending and receiving internet traffic from space (satellites used for internet are at least 22,000 miles from Earth). *Very small aperture terminal.
The key improvements in Ka band satellite internet technology from the “blanket” approach used up to now are:
- Ka Band satellite internet employs “spot beams” rather than broadcasting over an entire Continent….a far more efficient use of the available bandwidth resulting in lower monthly service cost to end users (as low as $49 per mo.).
- Ka Band satellite internet doesn't’t require a very large dish (the dish is about the size of a trash can lid) to produce high speed internet in either direction (downloads & uploads are very fast), resulting in a lower equipment cost to consumers.
- Ka Band satellite internet uses technology that lowers latency at the Operations Center allowing users to successfully do things like VPN and video conferencing.
When available, Ka band vsat satellite internet will enable remote teleworkers and consumer users to surf, work and email successfully at speeds approaching DSL & Cable for roughly $500 for equipment and $49.00 to $80.00 per month for service. Users can expect download speeds up to 1500 kbps (kilobits per second) and upload speeds from 128-256 kbps, more than enough to handle most any work or leisure scenario. The cost is higher than DSL and Cable but when you can’t get anything but dial-up, the cost might well be worth it for the 20,000,000 or so folks out there with nothing but a phone (if that!).
The service will initially be offered by Wild Blue Communications, a Denver based company, primarily owned by NRTC, Telsat Canada & Liberty Media. Two other companies, SES Americom and Echostar have indicated they will introduce service within a year. VSAT U.S. will make it available when we are comfortable with the platform's stability. I will have monthly updates on the progress of WildBlue Communications and others offering ka band internet on this website. If you have been waiting for fast affordable satellite internet service, your ship might have finally come in!
There are some downsides to ka band technology: rain fade might be a problem and voip might not work successfully, but it is too early to tell. Additionally, there is only one ka band satellite available for internet service over the U.S. right now and should anything happen to that "bird", service would be suspended for an unknown amount of time until another satellite could be launched and made ready for service.
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