Slashdot Mirror
Inmarsat Brings 3G Broadband to North America
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.'"
Now were only 2 years behind Korea, Japan, and the rest of the 3G world!
From the article: "It is the second in a planned two-satellite constellation."
It only takes two items to make a constellation?? Three would be a crowd, I guess.
$nice = $webHosting + $domainNames + $sslCerts
"Virtual offices".. yeh ok, we all know it will be used for porn, porn and more porn. 3G porn on the go!
Most of the world is still using 2Ghz computers. Does this mean they simply won't be able to communicate as fast as 3G (i.e. only use ¾ of the pipe) or are they completely unable to sync?
Try not. Do or do not, there is no try.
-- Dr. Spock, stardate 2822-3.
Can we back up, and make a phone that actually works before we put 100 different things on it?
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.
INMARSAT is International Maritime Satellite, a company originally dedicated to ship communications. They're also a pipeline for information hacked by ship pirates to analyze booty to steal.
INMARSAT has enough satellites to cover the globe, and they've bribed every major government of the world to require large cargo ships to use their system, greatly increasing the cost. They now are manipulating the added profits to extend 3G internationally.
I'm a fan of 3G, but not by a megacorp that earned its income through coercion. The fact that large shippers are m ndated to use INMARSAT and that pirates are already receiving the information (speed, cargo weight, location) increases our costs of goods and puts more control powers to the company.
You think Haliburton is bad?
What's the purpose of having so much bandwidth without a decent ping time to make it worth gaming on? That's what offices are for, isn't it?
Download Speeds
3G: max 384kbps
GPRS: max 48kbps
Upload Speeds
3G: max 64kbps
GPRS: max 24kbps
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
I've had 3G in my pocket for more than a year now. When I first got it, I browsed the front page of slashdot. When my bill came in, I saw that it had cost me $11.
I hope you get it a bit cheaper over there..