Tuesday, September 27, 2011
For many Canadians, October 18 can’t come soon enough. On that day, North America’s first 4G broadband satellite will launch into space.

ViaSat-1 is designed to provide a fast and affordable broadband connection to Canadians, including many in remote areas. Not only does the satellite have capacity to support download speeds of up to 25 Mbps, but all current North American broadband satellites combined don’t boast the total capacity of ViaSat-1. An estimated 1.5 million customers who thus far have had little or no access will now be able to take advantage of broadband services and all its social and economic advantages.

Sounds great, right? But consider the following: Canada’s largest provider of rural broadband access, Xplornet Communications, has purchased 100 percent of the Ka-band capacity on the satellite. Xplornet already has a national, fixed-wireless 4G network, and plans are in place to launch a second 4G satellite next year.

You can look at this information one of two ways. First, Xplornet is going to single-handedly eliminate the Canadian rural divide, long a hot-button issue. The other, more conspiratorial perspective, questions how wise it is for one company to have such overwhelming dominance of the market.

Other countries, like France, Australia, Germany, and India have already determined that 4G satellite broadband, with its speed and increased capacity is the key to providing affordable access for everyone. But is it prudent for any nation to allow one company that much power?

What’s your perspective on this substantial shift?

Labels: Canada Broadband, Rural Broadband, satellite broadband

posted by Unknown at 5:53 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments

Tuesday, August 30, 2011
When I read in the news this morning that a new deal was reached to provide broadband access to never-before-serviced areas of Egypt, I got excited.  That is, until I read the sub-heading.  It seems that Egyptsat and Skylogic have reached a deal reported over $20 Million to provide satelite broadband to rural Egypt.

First of all, to be fair we have note that the term "rural" as it applies to a desert climate is not quite the same as when we use it in the U.S.  Over half of Egypt has a population density averaging 5 people or less per square mile.  of course, that doesn't mean there are households of 5 every mile.  It means there are communities of 500 that are 100 miles apart.

So, when columnist Robert Briel reported that the deal would "provide broadband services to users beyond reach of terrestrial or wireless networks across Egypt" it's not too hard to imagine the accuracy of his statement.  Remember that even wireless broadband needs wires as a backbone.  It would seem obvious, then, that satellite broadband is the only answer.

But what have we forgotten?  What about the costs to install thousands of satellite dishes?  Maintain them?  Service them?  Will a customer be served well over time to have invested in a dish that will need replaced every 3 to 5 years (or more frequently in the desert climate).  When we consider the long-term cost of the local access amortized over time, the reality is that laying a grid of fiber today could pay for itself in under a decade--which is less than 1/3rd it's expected service life.  Is VSAT the best option that rural Egypt really has?

Labels: Egypt Internet, Fixed Wireless Broadband, satellite broadband, VSAT

posted by Unknown at 6:59 AM Link to this Article  0 Comments