U.S. broadband Internet satellite scheduled for launch in 2011


Posted on December 6, 2008  /  0 Comments

A California satellite technology provider has signed a deal to put a planned broadband Internet satellite into orbit above the U.S. in the first half of 2011.

The ViaSat-1 satellite will be launched on board an Arianespace rocket from the European space port in Kourou, French Guiana, according to the terms of the deal that was announced on Thursday.

The satellite will an overall throughput of 100Gbps and that should enable it to support 2Mbps service to about 2 million subscribers when operational.

It is expected to be the highest capacity satellite in the world at time of launch, and that should mean the price of transmitting each bit of data is about a tenth that of current services. In turn this should enable broadband Internet services at much lower prices than now, according to the company.

Read the full story in Network World here.

Comments are closed.