ViaSat-1 Launch Successful Available for Commercial Service Before Year's End After three delays earlier this year, ViaSat's new Ka-Band ViaSat-1 satellite was successfully launched this week from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Claimed by ViaSat to be the highest-capacity satellite ever launched, the satellite will be raised to geosynchronous orbit ten days after launch, with in-orbit testing expected to be complete sixty days after launch. "The ViaSat-1 launch is a big step in fulfilling our vision for advanced Ka-band networks," says a ViaSat spokesman. "We aim to begin consumer service by the end of 2011, and in-flight WiFi service on JetBlue next year, along with several other new, exciting applications." The new capacity should allow WildBlue, who has had to turn users away in recent years, the ability to add significantly more customers.
|
 Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL
kudos:1 |  Customer satisfaction won't last!
 ViaSat customers should be satisfied initially, but once ViaSat oversubscribes the capacity of their new bird customers will begin shooting ViaSat the bird! | |
| | | Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? I can't find anyone dying for satellite internet... And I've visited the boonies in Georgia, you can at least get some form of cell phone service (Even if it's crappy edge). | |
|  | | | Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? Metatron, you'll find us DYING to get away from it. I was with Wildblue for two years before switching to an Alltel aircard account. WB was fine for the first month...and then they started a new traffic-shaping system that screwed the latency (jumped to 1100ms) AND lopped 25% off all caps, without a corresponding price cut, of course.
I just got DSL yesterday. The installers are swamped and can't keep up, poor fellows, because demand is so high. It's...amazing. And thanks to the fiber that some farseeing Verizon CEO had fifteen years ago, I can get 8mb down if I want it! I'm still shocked by all the things I can do now, like open a Youtube video and listen to radio. I can use the internet like the rest of the world now. | |
| |  dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | said by Metatron2008:I can't find anyone dying for satellite internet... And I've visited the boonies in Georgia, you can at least get some form of cell phone service (Even if it's crappy edge).
That is an example of taking an anecdote and expecting it to apply on a national basis. Throughout the East there are many pockets without any cell coverage, but that pales compared to the vast acreage without cell service in the West. All of those areas, both east and west, are sparsely populated (which is why it doesn't pay to extend terrestrial services to them), but it still adds up to millions.
Then there's the business use. Ever notice the number of dishes on the roofs of gas stations and convenience stores? Take a look at the nearest Wal-Mart and somewhere on the roof will be a satellite dish - among other things it gives them a private secure store-to-headquarters link. Same for other major chains.
You will also see dishes just about anywhere you find an oil drilling rig that isn't metro - dishes are all over the place in the new fields in North Dakota. They are also on offshore rigs.
Every podunk first responder wants a satellite truck, and thanks to homeland security grants a lot of them have them. One of the lessons of Katrina was that when there is widespread devastation the only communication that is constant is a dish coupled with a generator.
More examples are possible, but the reality is that satellite is important to many things across the consumer/business spectrum.
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool | |
| | |  drjimPremium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Long Beach, CA
kudos:3
 ·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? Those dishes are WAY different than your standard satellite Internet connections. They're called "VSATS", and are almost ALWAYS used for low-bandwidth data transmission, NOT streaming audio/video, gaming, or general Internet use.
BIG difference!
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSAT
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. | |
| | | | dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? said by drjim:Those dishes are WAY different than your standard satellite Internet connections. They're called "VSATS", and are almost ALWAYS used for low-bandwidth data transmission, NOT streaming audio/video, gaming, or general Internet use.
BIG difference!
»en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VSAT
VSAT (very small aperture) just refers to the size of the dish. All consumer and most business dishes are vsat.
We use our vsat terminals for all of the above, except that no gaming over satellite can be fast-twitch regardless of dish size. I mentioned Wal-Mart, and one of the things they do with theirs is to stream video training. Just one example. Yes, gas station usage is low-bandwidth data. That does not in any way change the reality that there is demand for satellite services, both low and high bandwidth.
An example of high-bandwidth is the transmission from television remotes. While some large satellite trucks have dishes that are out of the vsat size range that is not true of smaller vans. I know a number of people who stream live events using 1.2 meter dishes. Typically bandwidth for those applications is purchased in multi-hour blocks.
BTW, the photo on the article you referenced shows a high-bandwidth dish. Based on the size of the transmitter it is at least 200 watts, and could be 400 watts.
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool | |
| | | | | drjimPremium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Long Beach, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? I should have been a little more specific. Things like gas stations, 7-11's, and liquor stores use what I guess I should have called a "classic VSAT" type of system. The requirements for inventory management, sales reporting, and grabbing the latest lotto numbers is a lot different than the things you mentioned. Not every small dish you see is used for store-wide audio/video streaming.
Yes, I know all about that type of use. When I worked for DirecTV we used to uplink a lot of that for various companies.
And they PAY for it. A LOT.
They have dedicated bandwidth on the satellite transponder, something that will never happen with "consumer" satellite systems. The cost to the end user for a dedicated circuit would be horrendous, and I doubt if many people would pay for it. The company I work for now has a dedicated bandwidth of 8 MB/s on an Intelsat bird, and we pay something like $40k/month for it.
Satellite does have the capability to "go anywhere", and except for the latency, you *can* get the speed and reliability that you'd expect from a land-based connection, but hoo-boy, will you ever pay for it!
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. | |
| | | | | | dbirdmanPremium,MVM
join:2003-07-07
Eureka, CA
kudos:5 | Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? said by drjim:I should have been a little more specific. Things like gas stations, 7-11's, and liquor stores use what I guess I should have called a "classic VSAT" type of system. The requirements for inventory management, sales reporting, and grabbing the latest lotto numbers is a lot different than the things you mentioned. Not every small dish you see is used for store-wide audio/video streaming.
Yes, I know all about that type of use. When I worked for DirecTV we used to uplink a lot of that for various companies.
And they PAY for it. A LOT.
They have dedicated bandwidth on the satellite transponder, something that will never happen with "consumer" satellite systems. The cost to the end user for a dedicated circuit would be horrendous, and I doubt if many people would pay for it. The company I work for now has a dedicated bandwidth of 8 MB/s on an Intelsat bird, and we pay something like $40k/month for it.
Satellite does have the capability to "go anywhere", and except for the latency, you *can* get the speed and reliability that you'd expect from a land-based connection, but hoo-boy, will you ever pay for it!
If you look at my sig line you will note that one of my connections is an iDirect system - believe me, I know what commercial satellite costs. Mine isn't dedicated, but it is at 15:1 contention compared to the 100:1 and greater for consumer grade.
What you may be missing here is the context of this thread, which was that there is a disbelief that satellite demand is actually on the increase, such that new satellites can sell their time to new customers, not just upgrade existing ones. Your points above actually agree with mine: There are LOTS of people, particularly corporation types, purchasing a lot of high-cost satellite bandwidth.
And we didn't even get into military communications - they have their own satellites, but also purchase a lot of bandwidth from the commercial guys.
--
Motosat self-pointing dishes: 1.2-meter XF-3 on 127W, .74 meter G74 on 127W, SL-5 HD DirecTV|idirect 3100|Hughes HN7000S|Verizon UMW190 Air Card|1990 Blue Bird Wanderlodge Bus "Blue Thunder"|Author of hnFAP-Alert, PC-OPI and DSSatTool | |
| | | | | | | drjimPremium,MVM
join:2000-06-13
Long Beach, CA
kudos:3 Reviews:
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? Understood. I rarely read sigs, so you got me there!
And, I agree with you 100%, if you build it, they will come, but they have to pay to play!
And again, you're right....I totally missed the context, and got wrapped around the technical aspects of it.
--
One man's Magic is another man's Engineering. | |
|
| | |  Not everyone lives in darkest Georgia. | |
| | | | | Re: Why do people keep saying this will add more customers? Well some places are highly remote, and even they get edge service....
In atlanta I get charter ultra 60, 18/1.5 uverse, at&t lte, verizon lte, at&t '3g', verizon 3g, sprint 3g, tmobile 3g, and even sometimes clearwire (although it sucks) | |
|
|
| |
|
|
·