I saw on TV earlier in the year (or maybe even last year) that Gates is planning on launching some satellites that will give high speed net access to everyone on the planet.
That was the last/all I’ve ever heard of it.
Does anyone know what the scoop is on it? Is it dead/alive? Any tech info? When will it go online?
I presently has ADSL and love it. However, we are buying a new home and it looks like I’ll be out of range for DSL if we buy where it looks like we will. Cable is not an option either (the cable co here is absolutely terrible). So, it looks like I’ll be back at a 56K connection for at least a while… or maybe best case use my Digital TV satellite service which is getting mixed reviews.
High speed networks are not really possible via satellite. While bandwidth is readily available, the latency is too high. (You are limited by the finite nature of the speed of light.)
I haven’t heard anything about Gates being involved in any satellite initiatives though.
Well, I just did a google search and came up with a few hits. Seems its MS partnering with Echostar and they’re offering 2 way sattelite connections (instead of using a phone line for the upload like most do now). 50Kbs up/500 down. Not horrrid, but nothing like my 1.5Mb DSL for $39 CDN per mo now…
Gates and Craig McCaw are the lead investors and main dreamers behind the Teledesic project.
Recently, the company has made abortive runs at Iridium and ICO, but so far as I know, the big plan to launch the full constellation is still their main thrust.