The internet is a wonderful thing. It’s an invention that has penetrated every aspect of society, and helped advance the economy, communication, and global knowledge. It has had perhaps no grander impact than on business. The internet and especially high speed is geographically constrained by where there is enough wire and cable to properly connect. As anyone who’s ever lived in a crowded apartment building can tell you, too many people on the same cable can crash the speed and connection. But some people have a different problem, not that they are in places too crowded, but that they’re in places under-populated and without the infrastructure to support a broadband connection. The internet, being more than a series of tubes, extends even there as satellite broadband can connect more of the world together at all levels.
The internet has improved business communication, and information sharing, allowing complete documents and files to be sent instantly from different people around the globe. Faxes could almost do this except if someone wanted to add to a document they had to replicate it then put in their changes, where as a file sent can be edited and with a click of a button sent back with every change highlighted. Faxes were also slow, noisy, expensive to own and operate, and were rather useless at sending works in progress back and forth. Businesses sometimes must operate where the local infrastructure isn’t strong enough to support the sort of demands broadband internet commands. They can turn to satellite broadband to be able to communicate vast stores of information where otherwise not possible.
The satellites that carry this information are low earth orbit satellites or LEO or geosynchronous orbit satellites. The Geo satellites carry data faster but cannot reach certain regions of the world (nearer to the poles) and are only strong near the equator. There are non-grand uses for satellite broadband. As tempting as it is to wax poetic about the connections it establishes and helps advance science, technology, and business by uniting more of the world there’s also the real issue that in some parts of the US cable the traditional carrier of internet isn’t a tenable option. The population may be too thin and to validate running the lines to every house. People in this area might have land line phones, and can get connection options through that, but phone based internet is notoriously poor. Home users have benefitted from satellite broadband. These places aren’t just the northern hinterlands of Alaska either, large and populated states can have expanses of lower population, even upstate New York or Texas have areas where cable service is lacking. Satellite broadband and other modern communication systems have helped tie the world together and will continue to advance our understanding and communication. For businesses satellite broadband allows them to build a facility somewhere that the population density, or technology hasn’t developed enough to justify traditional broadband means. This means a facility can be built before the town that supports it and still have the modern convenience of high-speed internet. Benefits will extend to personal social and technological aspects of life, so let’s sit back strap ourselves in and enjoy the ride.
