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Re:Japan’s SoftBank Invests $1B in Satellite Startup OneWeb by wahern on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @12:09AM (#13217615)
A fair point. But there's a difference between a person not having internet access and a place not having internet access. You'd be surprised at the far flung locales that still have internet cafes and WiFi at hotels. The density and quality of internet access in poorer areas is already going to be a function of where wealthy people travel.

Also, you have to correctly judge the cost of service. Demand for internet access is much more elastic than, say, demand for a cure for cancer. The lesson from the Iridium constellation is that even wealthy people aren't necessarily willing to pay as much as needed, or as often as needed, to recoup investments. Iridium succeeded but the original company went bankrupt shortly after starting service.

Re:Japan’s SoftBank Invests $1B in Satellite Startup OneWeb by intrasight on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @01:31AM (#13217934)
But I want internet at my cabin in the woods - and I'm sure that I am not alone. Lots of things have improved since Iridium, but I agree that that is a warning to heed - you have to know the shape of that demand curve.
Re:Japan’s SoftBank Invests $1B in Satellite Startup OneWeb by syedkarim on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @01:57AM (#13218023)
The entire world (even the most remote places) already has internet access (VSAT, BGAN, etc). OneWeb is just supposed to make rural satellite internet faster and cheaper.
Re:Japan’s SoftBank Invests $1B in Satellite Startup OneWeb by dx034 on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @11:46AM (#13221466)
Current internet via satellite is barely usable due to the extremely high latency. It's better than nothing but many services are de facto not usable. I've just been to Scotland and many places there have to rely on satellite internet, I'm sure the vast majority of them would be happy to switch to lower latency connections (and could pay well for it).
Re:Japan’s SoftBank Invests $1B in Satellite Startup OneWeb by candiodari on Tuesday December 20, 2016 @08:59AM (#13219777)
Just think about the great future. Almost all horror movies from now on will include livestreaming in the story.