D-Link, today announced its participation in the Hughes Broadband Alliance. Broadband Members like D-Link will utilize SPACEWAY to enable their video conferencing, surveillance and other broadband products to become certified to operate on Hughes’ spot-beam Ka-band satellite, with service due next year.
D-Link’s DVC-1000 i2eye VideoPhone and DCS-2000 Internet Camera will beam up using broadband from outer space for videoconferencing, remote security, and home/office connectivity. D-Link’s products will take advantage of Spaceway’s mesh networking and high bandwidth-on-demand capabilities. The $299 DVC-1000 i2eye VideoPhone uses advanced video compression technology from Sorenson to send and receive video at up to a full 30 frames per second with a 352×288 Common Intermediate Format (CIF) resolution at 512Kps transmissions.
The Spaceway network will use a peer-to-peer architecture to beam data to and from users. SpaceWay initially will consist of two GEO satellites plus an in-orbit spare. The Ka-Band satellites use spot-beam technology and will provide faster speeds and multi-point connectivity because traffic is not routed through a central hub like today’s Ku-Band satellites. This peer-to-peer architecture reduces latency. The Spaceway constellation can “send and receive Internet traffic at the equivalent 20 T1 lines” (30 Mbps). According to research studies, Spaceway has no interest in the consumer market because its Mesh-network design makes the system too expensive for consumers.
Wild Blue, by contrast, targets consumers. Their simpler ‘bent-pipe’ system uses satellite modems based on cable modem DOCSIS 2.0 standards, which also lowers costs. The on-again, off-again Ka-band satellite service is on-again thanks to a $156 million investment from Intelsat and Liberty Media. Wild Blue also uses spot beams in the Ka-Band. By reusing frequencies, more users can share a transponder - making the economics more realistic. WildBlue says it plans to charge customers a monthly fee that is comparable to current DSL and cable-modem offerings, but is less than existing Ku-Band offerings. EchoStar 9 also has a couple of Ka band transponders.
The company will launch its first satellite in 2003 and will lease capacity on the Canadian TeleSat ANIK F2 satellite (below), initially, then move to its own dedicated satellite, WildBlue-1, which can “see” the entire continental United States.
The Wildblue terminal will use a 24-by-36-inch elliptical dish using ViaSat’s DOCSIS 2.0 terminal (reportedly subsidized to $200), with monthly subscriptions “in range of $30 to $40 per month”. Upload speeds are claimed to be 500 kbits/sec and download speeds upwards of 1.5 Mbits/sec.
WildBlue should supply competition to the enterprise-targeted Spaceway. Both plan services in 2004.
Northern Sky Research indicates pricing for a 256Kbps upstream with 1Mbps down might cost between $200-$600/month. Some analysts believe 2-way internet via satellite makes no economic sense unless you can put more than 12,000 subscribers on a transponder. The only practical way to do that, they say, is with Ka band spot beams.
VSATs are currently on tens of thousands of gas stations and convenience stores. They provide credit-card checks and multi-point connectivity, cost/effectively for applications that require only low upstream bandwidth. Soon VSATs may deliver “hot spot” services like music, games and videos. 
Currently, Ku band satellites use terminals like Skycaster’s 4020 which supports up to 10, 25 or 50 connected computers. The upstream bandwidth is the bottleneck. Still, it can provide broadband where broadband isn’t. Wi-Fi can provide the last mile. Skycasters new 2-Way Satellite system can be mounted on a truck, trailer, RV or other vehicle and be operated from anywhere in North America.
Satellites can tie wireless ISPs together and make Wi-Fi cablecasting and video blogging, from a van or bus practical. Brewster Kahle used a similar system for his internet bookmobile on a cross-country odessey.
