June 28, 1999
Is Space the Final Frontier for High-Speed Net Access?
By Bob O'Donnell
If you have any interest whatsoever in popular science fiction, you
know that whenever outer space is involved, virtually anything is
possible. The thought of doing something related to space seems to open up
our collective imaginations and provide both the creative spark and hope
necessary to tackle any type of problem.
Clearly, that type of thinking must have had an impact on AOL's top
brass, as the company this past week announced a major investment in
Hughes Electronics, maker of the satellite-based DirecTV and DirecPC
products. Hughes' current offerings allow PC users to make broadband
Internet connections (at a download rate of about 400 Kbps) from most
areas of the country. More importantly, they let you do that today-not
sometime in the near future.
AOL made the investment in Hughes for several reasons. First of all,
they know that broadband connections are critical to their future success
and the sooner they can make them available, the better. In addition, the
company has been shut out from providing their services over cable modem
connections because the cable companies are not allowing anyone else to
deliver content over their wires. Of course, in many areas of the country,
that doesn't really matter because cable companies have been so slow in
rolling out high-speed Internet access that it isn't currently a major
factor. A miniscule percentage of the US, for example, currently has
high-speed cable modem access available to it.
The other highly-touted high-speed access option is digital subscriber
line, or DSL, in one of its many flavors. But once again, the phone
companies-who own the wires that can deliver this service-have been
extremely slow in rolling out DSL. Yes, it's available in small pockets
around the country, but generally speaking, it too is only an option for a
relatively tiny percentage of the US population. Even worse, DSL service
availability is limited to the 3.5-mile radius around phone company
central offices. And, as many frustrated consumers are starting to find
out, that leaves many people out-even those in highly populated areas.
So, given all these roadblocks to the widespread adoption of other
broadband Internet access solutions, the notion of delivering this service
via space-based satellites and personal satellite dishes really does start
to make sense. That's not to say it's the perfect solution, however,
because it clearly isn't. Right now, for example, all the satellite dishes
are only one-way-downstream-so you still need a phone line, 56K modem and
separate dial-up account to complete your connection. While that's not an
insurmountable problem, it's clearly a hassle. Apparently two-way
satellite technology that obviates this issue is in the works, but it will
be about four years before it becomes a real product. In the mean time,
we're stuck with a compromised solution-but at least it's a solution
that's widely available.
And that to me, is the crux of the issue. As more and more people start
to clamor for high-speed Internet access and become fed up by the slow
pace at which the more well-known options are being rolled out, I think
satellite-based delivery could prove to be a very competitor. (Throw in
the fact that you can also get a satellite TV service and cut your cable
company connections entirely, and the prospect may even be more
attractive.) So, yes, space could once again prove to be the final
frontier.
©
Copyright 1999, by InfoWorld Publishing Corp., a
subsidiary of IDG Communications, Inc. Reprinted from InfoWorld,
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