Now that we all have laptops and AccessPoints equipped with 802.11b gear mecca has become a mobile source for internet access. Until recently there have been very few sources for this, now a few are starting to emerge. -- AdamShand

• Company: Voice Stream
  • Service: 3G cellular service

  • URL: http://www.voicestream.com/products/services/istream/overview.asp

  • Bandwidth: approx 50k
  • Cost: Ungodly (approx $10/MB plus service charges)
• Company: Imark
  • Service: eHighwayman mobile satelite

  • URL: http://www.ehighwayman.com/

  • Bandwidth: 400Kb down, 128Kb up
  • Cost: Unknown (heard $200/month)
• Company: Satcom
  • Service: PASSPort MDBS-AA2000

  • URL: http://www.satcomweb.com/mobile.htm

  • Bandwidth: Unkown
  • Cost: Unknown
• Company: Sky Gate
  • Service: low-cost 1-way or 2-way flat antennas

  • URL: http://www.skygate.nl/p+s.htm

  • Bandwidth: Unkown
  • Cost: Unknown
  -- Satellite Resources include:

  [http://industryclick.com/magazine.asp?magazineid=5&siteid=3 Satellite Broadband Magazine] and [http://www.internet-2.org.il/vod.html Internet 2 VOD]

-- Satellite Carriers include:

• [http://www.earthlink.net/broadband/satellite/ DirecPC] and [http://www.Starband.com/ Starband] use the Ku (14Ghz) band. [http://www.wildblue.com Wild Blue] will have 2-way satellite uplinks for $70/month using the Ka band (20/30Ghz) with spot beams. [http://www.geamericom.com/ GE Star](5) with 384K-40M/up/down in Ka by 2002. [http://www.netsatx.net/ NetSat] with 384K-1.5M/up/down in Ka with .3meter dish by 2003.

[http://www.hns.com/direcway/for_small_business/business_edition/intro.htm Hughes DirectWay] and [http://www.Spaceways.com Spaceways] with 384K-6M/up/down in Ka by 2002

• [http://www.teledesic.com/tech/tech.htm Teledesic] and [http://www.ico.com/system/index.htm ICO/Teledesic] (available now)

Satellite carriers like [http://www.cyberstar.com/ Loral's CyberStar] skip most of the congestion of the terrestial internet for Enterprise users and ISPs. [http://www.cyberstar.com/products/products.cfm?pageID=clearstreamlive Loral's ClearStream WebCast] is available in packages of 100, 500, 1000 and 2000 simultaneous live users at a variety of data rates including 56 Kbps, 100 Kbps and 300 Kbps.

Other satellite carriers include:

• [http://www.cidera.com Cidera] [http://www.hns.com/direcway/for_small_business/business_edition/intro.htm DirecWay] [http://www.astrolink.com/services/index.html TRW's AstroLink] [http://www.ibeam.com i-Beam]

[http://www.microspace.com/index2.html MicroSpace] [http://www.panamsat.com/media/pressview.asp?article=1160 NET/36][http://www.ico.com/system/index.htm New ICO][http://www.pgtv.com/default.asp?flash=true Pegasus][http://www.skycrossing.net/ Skycrossing] [http://www.tachyon.net Tachyon]

[http://industryclick.com/magazinearticle.asp?magazineid=5&releaseid=6901&magazinearticleid=115349&siteid=3 Here's a story on Wild Blue] I've had some time to meditate upon the Wild Blue boys (www.wildblue.com) and how they may be able to succeed and thrive against DirectPC and Star Band in the consumer/direct-to-home data market if the perils of new technology don't bite them in the rump roast.

Wild Blue is a startup from Denver, funded largely by an alliance of Echo Star, Liberty Media, TV Guide, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, TRW and Arianespace.

At the beginning of 2002, it's going to put its own Ka-band satellite in geosynchronous orbit (we'll come back to Ka-band in a moment) to offer high-speed, two-way connectivity to North America homes, up to 3 Mbps downloading and up to 400 kbps upstream. Wild Blue also has rights to Ka-transponders on Canada's Telesat Anik F2, so the citizens of the Great White North will also get access to some kicking speed. A second dedicated Wild Blue satellite will go up in mid-2002 to act as a backup and to serve Latin America.

Wild Blue says it will be about 3 Mbps/400 kbps in speed. How does that compare with the other players in consumer land? Hughes' DirectPC is 400 kbps/56 kbps using a dial-up phone line to communicate requests, while Star Band is not much better at anywhere from 150 kbps (heavy load/many users) to 500 kbps download, 40-60 kbps upload.

Star Band doesn't require a dedicated phone line for dialup, so it's a little better than DirectPC. The (down at least one day a month) cable modem I have has a theoretical speed of 1.5 Mbps download, 128 kbps upload. So on a raw-speed basis, Wild Blue should kick DirecPC's behind. Don't get too excited, because Wild Blue still has to relay things to and from geosynchronous orbit, so there's a considerable lag involved that makes applications like IP telephony and two-way videoconferencing non-starters.

The Wild Blue people have thought through a couple of other issues as well. A Wild Blue setup consisting of a small modem and a 26-inch dish will be able to connect up to eight devices in the home — PCs, TVs and other Internet-enabled devices. A single dish will be able to provide data and your choice of DirectTV or Dish; Wild Blue would prefer you take Dish, since Echo Star is an investor. Your price for admission has yet to be determined, but according to the Web site, “Pricing is expected to be competitive with DSL and cable modem service.” It will be flat-fee, so you won't have to worry about bits set or time spent online.

[CategoryVendor]