{"id":3143,"date":"2001-07-23T14:59:19","date_gmt":"2001-07-23T19:59:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smperformance.wordpress.com\/?p=3143"},"modified":"2001-07-23T14:59:19","modified_gmt":"2001-07-23T19:59:19","slug":"stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-072301","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stratvantage.com\/index.php\/2001\/07\/23\/stratvantage-consulting-llc-mikes-take-on-the-news-072301\/","title":{"rendered":"StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 07\/23\/01"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
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From Evernote:<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

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StratVantage Consulting, LLC — Mike’s Take on the News 07\/23\/01<\/h1>\n

Clipped from: http:\/\/www.stratvantage.com\/news\/072301.htm<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n

T<\/strong>he News \u2013 07\/23\/01<\/h1>\n

Broadband a Broad Yawn?<\/strong><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019re like me, you\u2019ve probably heard about the coming broadband explosion until you\u2019re sick of it.<\/strong> Tremendous predictions of 3G wireless networks and fiber optic capacity notwithstanding, much of the broadband revolution seems aimed at the voracious needs of large corporations.<\/strong> But consumers like us (face it, no matter how much you\u2019re into business, you\u2019re a consumer too) have had to put up with unreliable modem lines, high priced and error prone DSL connections, and cable modem service brought to you by those paragons of customer service, the local cable monopoly.<\/strong> Despite this, Forrester predicts that by 2005, 46.7 million U.S. households will have broadband Internet connections, up from roughly 3 million at the end of 2000.<\/strong> Fast access always seems to be in the future.<\/p>\n

Well the future starts next year, when satellite broadband providers like WildBlue start offering 3Mbps bi-directional service (400Kbps upstream) to your rooftop.<\/strong> Using a 26" satellite dish and a small modem, the service claims it will be able to serve up to 8 computers, TVs or Internet-enabled smart devices.<\/strong> WildBlue service will be sold through 23,000 retailers that offer partner EchoStar’s DISH Network service.<\/strong> Can the six-year-old company make it work? Well, they\u2019ve got a couple of satellite slots, FCC spectrum allocation, a contract for capacity on another satellite, and are contracting with Space Systems\/Loral to build their first satellite.<\/strong> Founder and Chairman David Drucker helped found EchoStar.<\/strong> They\u2019ve got money from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers.<\/strong> However, the company\u2019s marketing materials mention the dreaded First Mover Advantage, so that\u2019s a strike against them.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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WildBlue will have to compete with fixed wireless efforts from the likes of Sprint, whose Broadband Direct service uses a roof-mounted 13.<\/strong>5" diamond-shaped transceiver to deliver typical download speeds ranging from 512Kbps to 1.<\/strong>5Mbps, with a maximum upload speed of 256Kbps. Customers within 35 miles of a tower are eligible for the service, compared with all of North and South America served by a satellite solution.<\/strong> However, the fixed wireless space has already had its share of flameouts.<\/strong> Boston-based Broadband2Wireless went Chapter 7 just three months after launching their Airora service.<\/strong> The good news is Sprint Broadband Direct is available now.<\/strong> The bad news is the company is playing it close the vest about exactly where it\u2019s available.<\/strong> You can go to their site <\/a> and put in your zip code to find out, but they then remember the zip code and won\u2019t let you try other markets without an exact address.<\/strong> From scrounging around I find it\u2019s available in Arizona, the Bay Area, and Chicago as well as somewhere in Colorado, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.<\/strong> Probably available everywhere by 2002.<\/p>\n

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As if that were not enough broadband options, there are companies planning on providing broadband access via airborne platforms like constantly-circling airplanes or blimps.<\/strong> The Halostar Network from Angel Technologies <\/a> and Raytheon plans to offer a blistering 52Mbps via HALO-Proteus aircraft that will fly fixed patterns in the stratosphere (51,000 feet and higher) over major cities.<\/strong> The planes will fly above commercial airline traffic and adverse weather and can create a cellular pattern covering an area 50 to 75 miles in diameter.<\/strong> Such coverage currently requires several hundred cellular towers.<\/strong> The company plans on offering a measly 1 to 5Mbps service to consumers, but will up the ante \u201cas the broadband market matures.<\/strong>\u201d The company plans limited commercial service this year, which probably means a full rollout in, you guessed it, 2002.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Sky Station <\/a>, led by Alexander \u201cI\u2019m in charge\u201d Haig, uses an unmanned, lighter-than-air platform (AKA a blimp) which can be maneuvered on a guided path or held geostationary in the stratosphere at 68,000 feet.<\/strong> This platform has the advantage of eliminating pilot boredom, which is certain to be a problem for Halostar.<\/strong> Sky Station will offer speeds of up to 2Mbps uplink and 10Mbps downlink.<\/strong> And guess when Sky Station will be deployed. Yup, 2002. You gotta love the future.<\/strong> It\u2019s always a year away.<\/p>\n

Finally, it\u2019s not at all certain that any of these technologies, other than fixed wireless, will ever deliver.<\/strong> Peter Jarich, an analyst at The Strategis Group, said, \u201cI don’t know if any of these companies [offering broadband from aircraft] will ever roll out services,\u201d says Jarich.<\/strong> \u201cFrom just a general market standpoint, there’s not a compelling argument for it.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n

Well, there\u2019s always next year.<\/p>\n

Business 2.<\/strong>0 <\/a><\/p>\n

Briefly Noted<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n