Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Inmarsat Brings 3G Broadband to North America

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the still-trying-to-catch-up dept.

Jessup writes "The Earth just got one step closer to true global broadband through satellite based communications. With the launch of the Zenit-3SL rocket the Inmarsat-4 F2 satellite brings 3G high speed cell technology to North America. From the article: 'Their onboard technology is designed to allow people to set up virtual offices anywhere around the world via high-speed broadband connections and new 3G phone technology.'"

4 of 129 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Only America? by AndyFewt · · Score: 5, Informative

    Well it is most likely (The article didnt confirm this) be in a geosynchronous orbit. That means the satellite stays in a fixed position in the sky relative to the ground. The position of the satellite in space (at an altitude of 22,237 miles) is where the speed of the satellite matches the speed of Earth's rotation. It is unlikely it performs a faster orbit around the planet as then it would also provide services to the other side of the world.

  2. Re:Affordable to upgrade? by Bananatree3 · · Score: 4, Informative

    3G actually stands for "3rd-generation", and is describing a generation of mobile telephone technology. Check out the Wikipedia article for more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G

  3. Compaired to GPRS by Charliems · · Score: 5, Informative


    Download Speeds
    3G: max 384kbps
    GPRS: max 48kbps

    Upload Speeds
    3G: max 64kbps
    GPRS: max 24kbps

  4. Don't get too excited until you know the price tag by daviddennis · · Score: 3, Informative

    In the late 90s, I talked to a very nice fellow who owned a gorgeous 120' yacht and was travelling around the world as he chartered it. Of course cut-price or no, a 120' yacht is not one of the cheapest things in the world to run, even if you get your diesel from Venezuela at $0.10 a gallon!

    We got to talking about boats and Inmarsat and the like, and he was kind enough to tell me his 56k connection cost $12 a minute. The mere act of emailing me must have cost a few bucks an email!

    So it's not at all meaningful to know that INMARSAT service is getting better, without understanding how expensive it is. I think the satellite phone service is a couple of dollars a minute.

    If it's that expensive, I fear it's of limited interest to most Slashdot users :-(.

    D