Broadband From The Sky

English: The receive/transmit terminal dish from the ASTRA2Connect satellite broadband system (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

I wish there were business models that would bring sense to beaming broadband from the sky. It would be ad based. Snooping technology would tell what sites you have been visiting and provide matching ads. Internet is a global thing. Diverse national paces are a lag. Fiber, air and sky should all double down.

State of the Internet: The broadband future is faster, but still unevenly distributed

Related articles

• Your Sky Broadband Utter Crap? It's Because Sky Got too Greedy
• State of the Internet: The broadband future is faster, but still unevenly distributed
• Greedy Sky admits: We crippled broadband with TOO MANY users
• State of the Internet: The broadband future is faster, but still unevenly distributed
• Choosing the Right Broadband Package for your Home
• Plusnet to provide unlimited broadband

Beaming Satellite Internet Into China

For China To Achieve Double Digit Growths Again
Sergey Brin's Is The Right Stand

I have been curious. And Quora has the answer. As suspected, the technology is there, it is the law that seems to be the problem. My definition of free speech in the 21st century is unfettered internet access.

The US bombarded Libya. Beaming satellite internet into undemocratic countries fits my definition of nonviolence beautifully. And I am guessing it is way cheaper than warfare.

Another would be the ring of fire concept. You would beam satellite internet along the border of a country and, oops, sorry some of it spilled over into your country.

Why hasn't anyone beamed satellite-based internet service to China to undermine the Chinese firewall?

There is satellite Internet service available in China - however it's generally subject to the same restrictions, and costs significantly more. In order to get a license to broadcast the signal over the country, the satellite ISP's usually need to either route the traffic through that country (which is transparent to you - i.e.: doesn't show up on a trace route), or support lawful/legal intercept/wiretapping by the country in question. See news last month RIM and India - even though it wasn't satellite, the Indian government wasn't satisfied until RIM put servers in country to allow the government to do lawful/legal intercept.

Due to international rules + regulations, you can't just 'Beam Satellite signals' into a country without their permission.

Satellite Internet access
Internet in China

Related articles

• Satellite Wars: China unveils 'cheaper' answer to GPS
• China launches global navigation system in Asia-Pacific
• East county emerges from digital Dark Ages
• MonkeyBrains seeks $350,000,000 for its own satellite

Broader Broadband

Fred Wilson: The National Broadband Plan

My comment to Fred's post that I left at his blog: Of all the blog posts I ever read at this blog, and I have read my share, this post really stands out for me. This topic gets me like nothing else in computing.

"....another 500mhz of hiqh quality spectrum to be used for "terrestrial broadband services" over the next decade...."

This is miserly. This is not going to cut it. TV needs to take second place to broadband. This is not some tertiary concern. This is the number one - Numero Uno - thing America needs to do to become a post-industrial, information age economy. The government just needs to get out of the way. The government selling that spectrum space to a handful of old companies is the government getting in the way. The American people need to revolt like they revolted against the British.

The nastiest part of that phrase is "over a decade. This has to happen in 2010, not in 2020. The jobs are needed now, "look around."

Broad Broadband
Silicon Valley Vs. New York City
Fred Wilson's Insight

John Chambers: Why America Needs A National Broadband Plan
betanews: FCC: Wireless Spectrum 10X More Valuable For Wireless Broadband Than For TV
Steve Cheney: Why Google Broadband Finally Makes Sense
CNet: TV Broadcasters Prepare For Spectrum Battle

Related articles by Zemanta

• FCC Delivers National Broadband Plan to Congress (dailyfinance.com)
• The National Broadband Plan (seekingalpha.com)
• The FCC's broadband plan: Winners and losers (macworld.com)
• National Broadband Plan: An Effort for the Ages (microsoftontheissues.com)
• CEA Calls FCC's National Broadband Plan Forward-Thinking and Essential to Broadband Crisis (eon.businesswire.com)
• CTIA-The Wireless Association Statement on FCC's Release of the National Broadband Plan (eon.businesswire.com)
• The National Broadband Plan (myventurepad.com)
• Sprint Commends FCC for Work on Country's First National Broadband Plan (eon.businesswire.com)
• FOSI Applauds National Broadband Plan (eon.businesswire.com)

Hughes Net: Satellite Internet

HughesNet Internet is the leading satellite internet service provider. It delivers high speed broadband across America.

The importance of broadband in this day and age can not be exaggerated. Broadband is as basic as electricity today, for work, for pleasure, for life activities. With the satellite option, the rural urban divide goes out the window. Hughes Net Internet is available anywhere in the continental US. The price is affordable.

Dial up just does not cut it these days. If you don't have broadband speed, you are missing out. On productivity, on pleasure. You need Hughes Internet. Satellite Internet fills in where cable internet is not an option.

HughesNet gives you broadband, and it comes with all the basic services like virus and spam protection, your own email address, a customized homepage.

Hughes Net satellite takes you online when others will not. Getting online knows no geographic boundaries.

"HughesNet uses the latest in satellite Internet technology to deliver an exceptionally fast broadband connection. Typical dial-up connections download at 53 Kbps. A satellite Internet connection from HughesNet downloads at 1.0 to 5.0 Mbps - that's 50x faster than dial-up!"

Related articles by Zemanta

• Number One Satellite Internet Hughes Net (jackysopinion.com)
• HughesNet - Show Stoppers 2009 (geeknewscentral.com)

Not Hardware, Not Software, But Connectivity

There is plenty left to be desired on the hardware and software fronts, but the real bottleneck in getting all 6 billion potential surfers online is neither, but connectivity. What business models could emerge to bridge up the digital divide?

Two technology models that hold promise: (1) broadband over power lines: zip, fast too, and (2) wireless broadband.

Internet access is fast becoming a basic need. What do you need to survive? Food and water are obvious. After that free internet access might be pretty close. I am serious.

The word "free" is important there. You don't pay for television shows. You don't pay to search on Google. The ad-model works just fine. The same could apply to internet access.



Say a company (or two, or three) comes forth, and they beam internet access to all corners of the planet. The catch being, when you go online with them, they, not you decide what the homepage will look like. And for that first webpage, they bring you online for "free." Heck, they might even get you to use only their browser, in which case, they could keep a toolbar that will always be with you no matter where you go online.

A click is a click is a click. I am sure a company like Coke/Pepsi does not care who the human being is. They will want people everywhere to see their ads.

And such a democratizing force that universal internet access will be too. Nothing like that to empower the individual. How will autocracies - those that remain - sustain themselves in the aftermath? They plain can't. Social transformation will be quickened. Universal education will become a reality, and it will be seamless from one level to another. A student in Bhutan could be following lectures at MIT.