S. Hanrahan wrote in message . ..
On 2 Aug 2004 08:25:26 -0700, (Brian Kelly) wrote:
Wires for any type of communications purposes are already on their way
into history. BPL was stillborn from the gitgo.
The future is satellite. Wi-Fi will just be a fad like the laserdisc.
Probably not - that is, if we're talking about customers directly
accessing the
satellite. While there's definitely a future for satellite comms, the
"last mile" problem combined with the enormous bandwidth of fiber
limits its usefulness as a general-purpose broadband access method.
Say you orbit a new, state of the art satellite. How much bandwidth
can it provide to how many customers? Compare that to what is
available in a single fiber. Also remember that once the duct is in
place, pulling another fiber isn't that expensive, and that new
technologies permit more bandwidth in existing fibers.
--
One thing the BPL folks downplay is that they really only use the
power lines for customer delivery (the "last mile" or so). Which could
almost always be done better by some form of Wi-Fi, DSL, cable, or
(yes) satellite.
73 de Jim, N2EY