RFSTUF

Finally, broadband satellite with real speedby Marguerite Reardon

Satellite broadband service has long been the choice of last resort for many consumers. It's slow, expensive, and capacity is limited.
But in the first half of 2012, that could change. Hughes Network Systems, one of the largest satellite broadband service providers in the world, will launch the Jupiter satellite, which will offer more than 100 gigabits per second of capacity. This is more than 10 times the capacity the company currently offers on its existing satellite, launched in 2008. ...

...Today, about 90 percent of the U.S. population has access to either cable modem or DSL broadband service. This means that 10 percent of the population does not have access to any broadband. While these areas are often sparsely populated rural areas, there are also communities that are relatively close to major metropolitan areas that still have no access to broadband. Some of these areas include communities in the tech-centric San Francisco Bay Area and areas north of San Francisco in Mendocino County. ...

...But rural and underserved consumers aren't the only ones that Hughes plans to address with its new service. The company is also looking to target the enterprise and government markets.

"Our birds [satellites] are already delivering service to businesses and government agencies," Slekys said. "We can provide redundancy for them, and we're also seeing a lot of emergency and first responders wanting our service."...