Slashdot Mirror
2-Way Satellite Internet Now Available In Canada
ehud42 writes: "According to this article, 2-way satellite service is available in Canada. Canada is pushing to have high speed internet access available to all Canadians by the year 2004. However, it appears it's available already! CEO Leslie Klien of C-Com is hoping the government will spend less on telco's stringing wires across the tundra and instead give it customers so they can buy his services."
that's 320Kbps/120Kbps, btw. ANd most people will keep it for more than a year.
This is great. The only thing keeping me from moving out of the city was the unavailability of half decent internet access. Now that this is here.. I can live at the lake.
So you think this is not a good deal? This is for people *outside the city* where you can't get *any* high speed access. It's a *great* deal.
According to Judy Elder, head of Microsoft Canada's Consumer Division, Canada generates more porn search requests than any other English-speaking country in the world. And that's total searches, not per capita. This is not a troll, nor is it a joke (although it's damn funny).
Maybe that's why we're leaders in the telecom business, and have better internet access options--we have the demand.
I work at a Radioshack and we have had advertisements running since October for a 2 way satellite service. The service being offered is the Microsoft network and it's got a large download which I forget but only 128kb up. Some customers who were existing DirectPC customers were able to get it already, but I understand they had a lot of problems with the rollout and right now you can't get it. It didn't scale well over 2000 customers apparently.If you talk to your local Radioshack guy you might be able to get in on it though, worth a shot. (assuming you would even want this...)
Sigs are awesome huh?
> 40KB download? 12KB upload? $150 a month? Yeah right... That is rediculous.
Where did you get those bandwidth figures? Here are some from their FAQ:
The speed at which data will flow from the Internet to your PC will average 400kbps. The speed at which data will flow from your PC to the Internet (e.g., when sending an email) will average 128kbps.
While you're using a capital B, and may be meaning kilobytes per second rather than kilobits, they still don't match the FAQ's bandwidth stats, and I think a 10x-20x downstream improvement over a typical dial-up in a remote location is more than a "glorified modem."
On the other hand, their actual pricing sheet says that they may, at their discretion, limit your bandwidth as described in their Terms and Conditions, which they don't seem to make publicly available on their web site.
The Sun!
For a millenia we have lived under its warm glow, and free nutrients! Finally we will be rid of this menace as we block it from the sky with millions of low orbit satellites.
Excellent.
---
This
This isn't going to be the solution for those of us living in big centers where we hae our choice of DSL and cable. This is for rural areaa, some of whom still dial in over radio! Yes, northern Saskatchewan still uses some Radio for phone communications. So, this is a huge step forward. Lets face it, A town of This is "the last mile". Its the most difficult thing in connecting to the Internet. Here's an answer. Give it some time to drop in price. I know when DSL started around here, it was over $100/month, not the $45 it is now.
Service: 150x12=$1800/year
Dish: $850-2750, they recommend the "right one"
Yearly licensing free: $70
Activation: $50
Hrm.. so if you keep the service for a year, that runs you about $230 - $390 per month for a glorified modem speedwise. You could probably save money by getting about 4 phone lines and isp accounts and combining the bandwidth. I guess a government is the only organization that would consider something like this.
Uninnovate - Only the finest in engineering.
Hammy hamster, socialized medicine, SCTV, they always get it first. Now they have 2 way satellite internet, and a woman president, Jeanne Chretien!