Satellite Internet services to launch in 2021

With services like Google Fibre and cable internet providers, end-users are getting as much as 1Gbps at home. That kind of bandwidth will enable products and services that would just not be possible before. Unfortunately, very select cities and urban areas have that kind of internet access.

The rollout of Fibre connectivity is expensive and without a guaranteed customer base, is not a practical investment. Without that kind of investment, it is difficult to provide fast internet to most areas, until now. There are at least two providers that will launch a network of satellites that will give at as much 100Mbps.

The two companies, Hughes Network Systems and ViaSat are existing satellite service providers. The upgrades will take their existing services and increase the bandwidth to 100Mbps. In addition to the residential services, both will offer commercial locations like offshore drilling sites with as much as 1Gbps of bandwidth.

The satellite providers will also provide in-flight services for airlines, covering everything from internet access to streaming movies. Coverage will begin with the Americas and then Europe, with an extension of the service to Asia afterward. The service will begin sometime in 2019.

The only drawback of the service is the latency you get from satellite connections. There is an addition of approximately 240ms between the satellite and the customer, once you add the time it takes to the ground station and the internet, the latency could increase by as much as 500ms. That kind of delay is fine for movies, downloads, and web surfing, but gaming will suffer.