Tapping the Web, 22,000 Miles Up

Satellite companies have been the also-rans of Internet providers. They serve a little more than one million customers, most in rural areas that have no other options. Their services can be painfully slow and cost twice as much as high-speed broadband. But two companies, WildBlue and HughesNet, are now in a race to change all that.

Both plan to launch satellites in the next couple of years that will dwarf their predecessors in space. WildBlue's alone will have 10 times the capacity of its three current satellites combined. Such behemoths, the companies say, will enable them, at prices similar to what they now charge, to provide Internet service at speeds many times faster than they now offer -- as fast, in some cases, as fiber connections. Further, the companies argue, satellites can provide service more easily and cheaply per subscriber than their earthbound cable and phone company competitors, particularly to the 14 million to 24 million Americans who live in areas without broadband service. While the new satellites will transmit signals more quickly, there will continue to be slight delays -- a half a second or so -- on users' computers because the signals have to travel 22,000 miles up into space and back down again. There's also the problem of serving residents who are not able to point a satellite dish toward the satellites' location in the southern skies. And then there's the question of making sure satellite modem dishes are clear of snow in winter.