ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband in WildBlue Satellite

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Wed, 06 May 2009 00:55:52 EDT

anon :

said by zalternate :

So what Hughes and WildBlue want is the government to pay for the user terminals and installs...

Based upon my scanning this topic recently, the rules for obtaining broadband stimulus funds will not be available until June. But, if these rules/evaluations are "prudent," I doubt if WB/Hughes will get a dime.

See this article: Broadband Funding Hopefuls Pair Up in Search of Stimulus Dollars

Do remember a satellite ISP cost consumers about twice as much as their city dweller using DSL/Cable. And if the purpose of this broadband stimulus is to bring about more users with faster speeds, one can only wonder how this will be when the cost will be much higher, otherwise, current users would jump ship overnight for these faster speeds.

Hence, if Hughes/Wildblue have to define how their new birds will assist consumers, via economic perspective, only the more affluent will be able to afford it (who are already onboard)...which means their plans don't assist Joe Six Pack families.

Hence, Wildblue/Hughes consumer pricing on these proposed birds may be above your typical users' pocket books, so if they ever got the money, it would not benefit common user.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:39:30 EDT

zalternate : Interesting.
So what Hughes and WildBlue want is the government to pay for the user terminals and installs and then hopefully have new satellites(in a couple of years) ready for the rush of users. Maybe multiple ViaSat1's will be the newest standard for both companies(providing that there is enough spectrum for multiple KA satellites).

So I say this to Government.
Don't give Hughes or WildBlue any money until contracts are voided for all users. If a user can have the safety of no contract, then the user can leave if the system gets too many users for what bandwidth is available, Or if the tiny bandwidth amounts per day or per month allowances keep getting dropped lower. What use is a fast system if you can't use enough MB's? But Hughesnet overnight FAP free period is always a bonus.

If you look at the »www.tooway.com/ system in Europe, it is set to have 2Mbps as the universal speed(with a ViaSat1 satellite). That speed should be good enough for anyone. Multiple speeds packages are just an excuse to throttle the people who don't pay much and make them upgrade to pay more.
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Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Tue, 05 May 2009 00:11:40 EDT

anon :

said by zalternate :

Without having dug to deep(or what information thats available right now...

Understanding Broadband Stimulus Spending might unravel a pinch of this mystery.

Good read here: HughesNet and WildBlue "Probably" Will Submit Joint Broadband Stimulus Proposal

"Though nothing is formalized yet, it is likely Hughes Network Systems and WildBlue Communications will submit a joint proposal to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration for grants to underwrite the cost of end user customer premises equipment (which could include satellite terminals, receivers and installation)."

SideBar Tidbit - ""SpaceWay delivers data today at 440 Megabits per second," says Cook. That data of course is a shared resource between some number of users, he says. As a financial matter, it is uneconomic to offer end-user speeds faster than 5 Mbps downstream, he says."

So, from this article, and these other articles, one can conclude that Hughes and Wildblue have plans/dreams to build a next generation bird that can deliver higher download speeds...and Hughes suggest 5 mbps is fast enough from an economic viewpoint.

No matter what happens, if all goes according to plan, there will be an operational satellite in 2011, and most likely, with Telesat and Wildblue having their fingers on it....my prediction.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 04 May 2009 16:14:30 EDT

zalternate : Heres some updated information on WildBlue satellite users capacity.

»www.wildblue.com/company/doPress···aseID=18

WildBlue1 information. So wildBlues user capacity is about 750,000 users total. Also keep in mind that WildBlue is now leasing some KA band from EchoStar. »www.foxbusiness.com/story/market···chostar/

»www.spacemart.com/reports/Wildbl···999.html
WildBlue-1 will allow WildBlue to more than triple its customer capacity, making high-speed Internet service available to more than 750,000 rural consumers throughout the continental United States. WildBlue expects that the additional capacity accessible on WildBlue-1 will be available to all areas of the contiguous United States by the second quarter of 2007. WildBlue will also continue to utilize its capacity on Anik F2, alongside WildBlue-1.
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Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 04 May 2009 14:33:26 EDT
zalternate :
said by DrStrangeLove_ :

"The new satellite would be able to offer broadband (depending on the speeds) to between 1.5 million and 2 million rural Americans. The current satellite can handle about 750,000 users and serves about 400,000 WildBlue subscribers."

»gigaom.com/2009/04/29/wildblue-l···s-funds/

Remembering that with the Anik F2 is that Xplornet(the main reseller for Telesat) in Canada also uses it with very roughly a minimum 60,000 users(No numbers can be found exactly). And that the Anik F2 satellite 750,000(edit: faulty number. It is Anik F2 and WildBlue 1 combined) user number, the number is derived from 100% basic speeds connections and not any higher speed packages. And may not account for 100% of users to be online at the same time(I have not looked up the numbers is a couple of years).

And as far as I know, the new bird(viasat1) was already ordered a couple of years ago By Telesat(a 20% owner of WildBlue).

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:41:19 EDT
anon : "The new satellite would be able to offer broadband (depending on the speeds) to between 1.5 million and 2 million rural Americans. The current satellite can handle about 750,000 users and serves about 400,000 WildBlue subscribers."

»gigaom.com/2009/04/29/wildblue-l···s-funds/

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:38:04 EDT
anon : A current posting,

»Wild Blue 18Mbps More Like 10Mbps

had a citation,

»gigaom.com/2009/04/29/wildblue-l···s-funds/

which suggested WB's attempt for federal funds..."it’s clear that as the scrounging for broadband stimulus dollars gets under way, WildBlue is shooting for the stars," might be a pie-in-the sky idea.

But, since it appears Telesat has their fingers in this pie, I would not be surprised if Telesat works a deal with Wildblue on this first bird.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 04 May 2009 13:17:40 EDT
anon :
said by zalternate :

but it seems...same service as the current method of the Anik F2, with the usual WildBlue and Xplornet reselling the service.
Based upon previous news releases, and ViaSat's info...yes, one could conclude very positively that Wildblue/Telesat will share a new bird, located in a different orbital slot.

However, I would not know if a larger dish would be used or not for improved performance. But, Telesat's resellers do have access to this larger dish for those needing it. My hunch would be that a larger dish would be better, technically speaking.

I have no idea if those bird launch tables show what's happening in 2011, but knowing this would confirm the time era for service.

Wildblue has suggested 18mbps service, but I'll bet this is "slowed down" to 10 mbps.

Considering this bird's total bandwidth is much higher, I would not expect the rates to be too much higher.

Hmmm...where do I sign up for the Beta trials :D

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:56:40 EDT
zalternate : Without having dug to deep(or what information thats available right now and the past years), but it seems that it would be somewhat the same service as the current method of the Anik F2, with the usual WildBlue and Xplornet reselling the service.

ViaSat provides the equipment/technology and the actual satelite operators pay the money and run the satellites.

»www.viasat.com/broadband-satelli···viasat-1
An Experienced Team of Ka-band Innovators
The venture joins us together with strategic partners with a record of innovation and success in this market:

* Space Systems Loral
* Telesat Canada
* Eutelsat

And a 2006 news link possibly calling the ViaSat1,,, the Anik G1 when it gets commissioned. Another old link is, The location in orbit should be 118.7 west »www.viasatellite-digital.com/via···5/?pg=18 , which is where the Anik F3 is right now(which had two KA beams put in it to protect the orbital slot for a new KA satellite position from other satellite companies).
»www.space.com/spacenews/archive0···306.html
David Lahey, vice president for business development at Telesat, said the Anik G1, likely to be ordered this year, will have 30-40 times the capacity of Anik F2. It also will be less expensive to build than Anik F2, he said.

EDIT:
Here is the Eutelsat site with ViaSat equipment.
»www.eutelsat.com/products/broadb···way.html
News story from May 1 2009, dealing with the second ViaSat1.
»www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/01···_launch/

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Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion.

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 21:38:02 EDT
Spice300 : zalternate, since ViaSat-1 is a new satellite using Ka-band frequencies, it will probably be put in a different orbital slot than Anik-F2 and WB-1. To get the new service one would probably need new equipment, but it could be as simple as repointing the satellite dish and starting a new account. I do not remember the video indicating whether Wildblue or HughesNet would participate in using the new satellite. If they do not participate, current subscribers would have to switch to the new company and probably buy completely new equipment.
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Value Pack, beam 31, Riverside gateway

Re: ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:42:53 EDT
zalternate : Does anyone have any opinion on just how they can integrate this super ~~speed~~ bandwidth satellite in to the current fleet?

As in,

What is going to be the new pricing tiers?

Will the users on the old satellites get an upgrade offer they can't refuse?

Will the users on the old satellites get a major price cut?

Will users on the slower satellites feel like second class Internet citizens?

What will be the daily Caps or Maximum bandwidth allowance for the month?

Will the new satellite still have available bandwidth available after 3 years of loading on users(like the current ones don't).

Telesat is going to be running ViaSat1. So same shadowy figure in the background throttling your butt for watching too many videos of "sleeping dog running in to the wall".
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Consumer Rights is more than just a suggestion.

ViaSat-1: Transforming Satellite Broadband

Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:28:37 EDT
anon :
»www.youtube.com/watch?v=88MJ0UEz···embedded