HughesNet moves one step closer to ka band service....

HughesNet announced lsat week that they have completed a extensive 30 day testing program on the capabilities of ka band internet on the Spaceway II satellite owned by DirecTV Group ( the former owner of Hughes). This testing came as part of the purchase agreement between HughesNet and the DirecTV Group unit of NewsCorp at the beginning of this year. HughesNet plans to launch their own ka band satellite, SpaceWay III, early in 2007 and be operational by late in the year.

“Completion of over-the-air testing on SpaceWay 2 is a significant milestone for Hughes and indeed for the satellite industry,” said Pradman Kaul, chairman & CEO of Hughes. “Confirmation of SpaceWay's fundamental technological advantages, namely on-board switching and ten times greater capacity than today's Ku-band satellites, means we now can plan our commercial service launch in 2007 with high confidence in its unique cost/performance benefits. We anticipate that SpaceWay will expand the addressable market for broadband satellite IP services by four times or more.”

According to Hughes, its SpaceWay architecture can scale up to two million terminals per satellite and will provide coverage with multiple spot beams across the U.S. including Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico, as well as in selected areas in Canada, Mexico, and major cities in South America.

I believe HughesNet realizes that the U.S. consumer internet market is overcrowded and will be setting sights on the likes of Mexico, Central & South America, where infrastructure is still in early development. With the claim that a single SpaceWay satellite can handle up to two million customers, they will certainly be looking for new markets. Since the Spot Beams on SpaceWay satellites can be steered from one area to another, they can "chase" the market if they choose.......something the competition's bird, Wildblue I, is not able to do.

MotoSAT XF3 series mount

Emergency Response Never Looked So Cool....

MotoSAT, the most respected name in motorized autopoint satellite internet has just announced their new XF series mounts. Stronger, faster and more reliable than anything previously manufactured. Combined with a D3 Controller and a clear view to the south, this unit can have you sailing along the internet highway at 5000/768 kbps in less than 4 minutes.
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FAP...the necessary throttle used by most ISP's

FAP, or better known as "Fair Access Policy", is the action Internet Service Providers utilize to try to keep service levels as close to the advertised speeds as possible for consumer and low end enterprise satellite internet products. For those not familiar with this mechanism of throttling users who "use too much too quick", all users of the major consumer satellite internet providers, are made aware of limitations of daily use when they sign up...usually! There have been some providers, like Wildblue and Unasat, who found out that they either needed to change the limitations (Wildblue) or go from no FAP to a policy that implements FAP - after the fact, as in the case of Unasat.

Most users of the internet via satellite never have a problem with these limitations; however, some of the companies are more punative than others when you do go over the limitations. As a prospect of a satellite service, it is very important that you are completely familiar with the company's policy regarding FAP before you sign the dotted line.

As of August 1, 2006 the most punitive FAP on the market is Wildblue Communications...if you ever hit it. They have a fairly liberal monthly (only ISP to do it that way) allowance for internet activity, but if you go over that allowance, look out! You will be throttled back to 128/28 kbps for at least 10 days and possibly as long as several weeks. That is crawling!

Next in line is the Unasat ku band Surfbeam platform. They have decent enough daily allowances, but use the same refill rates (throttled rate) for a $59.99 per mo. service as they do for a $700 per mo. service....that is, if you hit your daily allowance you will be slowed down to 128 kbps download/ 28 kbps upload for the balance of the 24 hour period, regardless of your service level......not cool.

The best thought out FAP program on the market today is HughesNet, not that anyone likes it, but at least it allows a fair amount of downloading before you are slowed down, and is far less punitive for higher levels of service.

You can judge for yourself, if you can figure them out, by going to the following sites to see the actual FAP policies:
Wildblue FAP: http://www.wildblue.com/legal/fair.jsp
Unasat FAP: http://www.datasatplus.com/datasatplus/files/DataSatPlus%20Sat%20Service%20FAP.pdf
HughesNet FAP: http://www.hughes.com/HUGHES/Rooms/DisplayPages/layoutInitial?Container=com.webridge.entity.Entity%5BOID%5BBD8BE0839F414B4FB7CDDCA10EFA5369%5D%5D