Amazon to offer broadband Internet from space

[rekees4300]

Dubbed Project Kuiper, Amazon will launch 3236 satellites into low Earth orbit which aim to cover areas where roughly 95 percent of people live on the planet! The project, which is expected to take many years to complete, will likely cost billions of dollars. This will be a game changer for those of us living in rural areas with slow/no Internet access.

Amazon Will Launch 3,236 Satellites to Offer Broadband Internet From Space - Geek.com

 

[RNeumann]

This idea has been around for several years. Back then it was Google. It’s interesting cellular is actually kicking butt worldwide. My wife was in rural Africa a few years ago and had great cellular coverage.

Even low orbit sats will have latency issues. But I applaud the effort and the competition!!

 

[3Ts]

This will be very interesting to watch. If they really can do the low earth orbits at the altitudes they're predicting, latency will be much improved although maybe not enough for serious gamers.

 

[Diggin It]

Dubbed Project Kuiper, Amazon will launch 3236 satellites into low Earth orbit which aim to cover areas where roughly 95 percent of people live on the planet! The project, which is expected to take many years to complete, will likely cost billions of dollars. This will be a game changer for those of us living in rural areas with slow/no Internet access.

Most areas already have one or more satellite internet options. If you can get satellite TV, you can probably get the web that way. There are a few locations blocked by terrain. They probably aren't spying on your traffic like Jeffy B probably will.

It ain't cheap though.

 

[searcyfarms]

it might be tolerable but it will not be acceptable for many after having what they have and due to the costs of satellite services, bandwidth packages are needed. Currently there is not enough backhaul for satellites to provide unlimited use nor throughput capacity to handle what people would like to do with it that they do with unlimited google fiber or spectrum etc.......it will be a while and until the cellular industry gets their head out of their donkey and reaches the rural areas things will not get better with unlimited plans or coverage nor pricing. They can do it now but with 5G it will be easier although its still going to require more towers - they are playing with a lot of different devices but still nothing comes w/out a large cost to cover square miles of low population.

 

[RoyKing]

You don't have to be far out of town. AT&T won't deliver me DSL and land lines barely work. Yet they deliver fiber to the Verizon tower 2 miles away. So I use version cell, dish TV, Exede Sat for internet. Costs me $200 @ MO for all three.

 

[deserteagle71]

Most areas already have one or more satellite internet options. If you can get satellite TV, you can probably get the web that way. There are a few locations blocked by terrain. They probably aren't spying on your traffic like Jeffy B probably will.

It ain't cheap though.

Hope the Amazon version will work better than HughesNet and the other current satellite internet providers. I had two of my neighbors try satellite internet and after a few months gave it up. Too slow and too many interruptions in service. Plus very expensive if you want FAST internet that's unthrottled!

 

[fjcruiser]

I'm glad to hear about this. A little competition between SpaceX and Amazon might speed up the time to consumer.

 

[Rustyiron]

Will this be different than my pretty poor & expensive, but my only option Hughesnet?

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Most areas already have one or more satellite internet options. If you can get satellite TV, you can probably get the web that way. There are a few locations blocked by terrain. They probably aren't spying on your traffic like Jeffy B probably will.

It ain't cheap though.

The problem with satellite internet is the speed of light is too slow. It adds half a second to every ping. It works fine for video streaming as long as you pay for the bandwidth, but video conferencing or even a Skype call is very awkward. A typical web page can have 40 or 50 handshakes as it loads features, which makes browsing a frustration.

If Bezos puts enough LEO satellites up and enough uplinks on the ground to keep them fed, he might be able to take over cell service and internet service and put all that cash flow in his pocket. He's young enough to think that far forward.