Re:SpaceX Gets FCC Approval to Sell Wireless High-Speed Home...
by fragmede on Tuesday April 30, 2019 @08:35AM
(#19787328)
> what kind of bandwidth can an inexpensive ground-based system get, reliably?
Theoretically 56 Kbit, but practically closer to 40 Kbit. I'm being serious! Given the choice between hugely expensive and high latency satellite Internet and dial-up, many have opted for dial-up, even in this day and age! We're not even talking that far away from urban centers, either, especially in hilly areas. A couple hour's drive outside of San Francisco is enough to get to cell-phone network dead spots, never mind LTE. There are some hyper-regional wireless ISPs using 802.12-based gear (Uniquity), but those are the exception.
Given that, (which is so extreme that I'm sure that not everybody that reads this will even believe me), any competition to HughesNet will be very welcome. Prior to SpaceX, the cost of getting a constellation of satellites into orbit was prohibitively expensive, but with this being done by SpaceX, the launches for this will be done "at cost", (corporate accounting and cost centers notwithstanding). (Which, mind you, is still several million dollars per launch in rocket fuel.)
Hopefully that means a genuine competitor to HughesNet, but that's a low bar. There is a large initial investment (of time and money), but FCC approval is an important first step towards providing this service.
Theoretically 56 Kbit, but practically closer to 40 Kbit. I'm being serious! Given the choice between hugely expensive and high latency satellite Internet and dial-up, many have opted for dial-up, even in this day and age! We're not even talking that far away from urban centers, either, especially in hilly areas. A couple hour's drive outside of San Francisco is enough to get to cell-phone network dead spots, never mind LTE. There are some hyper-regional wireless ISPs using 802.12-based gear (Uniquity), but those are the exception.
Given that, (which is so extreme that I'm sure that not everybody that reads this will even believe me), any competition to HughesNet will be very welcome. Prior to SpaceX, the cost of getting a constellation of satellites into orbit was prohibitively expensive, but with this being done by SpaceX, the launches for this will be done "at cost", (corporate accounting and cost centers notwithstanding). (Which, mind you, is still several million dollars per launch in rocket fuel.)
Hopefully that means a genuine competitor to HughesNet, but that's a low bar. There is a large initial investment (of time and money), but FCC approval is an important first step towards providing this service.