The demo will be part of an effort to showcase what satellite-delivered broadband can provide for rural residents and will be held at the Colorado State Capitol on April 29th, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. WildBlue already serves approximately 400,000 rural U.S. customers, including 11,000 in Colorado. HughesNet, the other major provider of satellite-to-home services, is available throughout the continental United States and currently serves over 400,000 consumers and small businesses in more than 26,000 zip codes underserved by cable and digital subscriber line services, the company says. In principle, HughesNet already has the ability to use their latest generation of satellites to provide bandwidth at such speeds. The trade-off is “speed” for “number of subscribers.” Basically, any satellite transponder has fixed capacity, so that capacity can be focused to a smaller number of users who get higher bandwidth, or to a larger number of subscribers who receive less bandwidth.
WildBlue uses the DOCSIS 3.0 format for broadband Internet access, the same technique used by cable operators to provide higher speeds. However, WildBlue is capacity constrained at the moment on the one active satellite it is operating, observers note. Offering DOCSIS 3.0 at higher speeds using existing transponders would be a strain, should any significant number of consumers actually sign up for the higher speeds DOCSIS 3.0 offers. WildBlue has recently leased additional capacity from EchoStar Satellite, a division of EchoStar Corporation. WildBlue has stated the additional capacity will be available in the second half of 2009, delivering the “same speeds and quality of service enjoyed by current WildBlue customers.”