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Yes, of course. But how big of a market is that really? I imagine the market is actually pretty small, considering a lot of rural areas have semi-workable 4G co

Yes, of course. But how big of a market is that really? I imagine the market is actually pretty small, considering a lot of rural areas have semi-workable 4G coverage, and others have small wireless p2p ISPs. My point wasn't that it doesn't make sense whatsoever, it's just that it is going to be a niche solution. Considering the insane capex of getting the sats in space, if the market is too niche, will it be able to pay back the capex costs?

milankragujevic 7y ago
> But how big of a market is that really? You can't know until you do extensive market research. >a lot of rural areas have semi-workable 4G coverage Yes, but also extremely restrictive data caps and expensive overage fees per kilobyte. >small wireless p2p ISPs Yes, that would be the biggest competition to LEO satellite broadband. However, PTMP (point to multipoint) WISP requires line of sight and expensive CPEs to reach speeds over 20 Mbps for more than 1-2 km (0.6-1.2 miles). There is still shared capacity, and RF noise problems (as with satellites). >it is going to be a niche solution Unfortunately, yes. And if it ever gets anywhere near to being profitable and threatening the traditional fixed access telcos, they'll just spend some pennies (compared to revenue), lay fiber to most of the residences, and do a mix of FTTH and FTTC (VDSL2 with profile 35b for up to 50 Mbps at 1km (0.6 miles) or 350 Mbps at 100 m (0.06 miles)) to save costs for users who have good-enough-quality twisted pair telephone lines but are too far from the DSLAM to get good speeds. VDSL2 is quite servicable, it is unclear to me why is it so underutilized in the USA. DSL is a dedicated service, since the telephone line isn't shared with multiple people nor multiplexed in any way, so it provides a very stable connection, if the speed is conservatively set per the line's maximum length.

milankragujevic 7y ago

> But how big of a market is that really? You can't know until you do extensive market research. >a lot of rural areas have semi-workable 4G coverage Yes, but also extremely restrictive data caps and expensive overage fees per kilobyte. >small wireless p2p ISPs Yes, that would be the biggest competition to LEO satellite broadband. However, PTMP (point to multipoint) WISP requires line of sight and expensive CPEs to reach speeds over 20 Mbps for more than 1-2 km (0.6-1.2 miles). There is still shared capacity, and RF noise problems (as with satellites). >it is going to be a niche solution Unfortunately, yes. And if it ever gets anywhere near to being profitable and threatening the traditional fixed access telcos, they'll just spend some pennies (compared to revenue), lay fiber to most of the residences, and do a mix of FTTH and FTTC (VDSL2 with profile 35b for up to 50 Mbps at 1km (0.6 miles) or 350 Mbps at 100 m (0.06 miles)) to save costs for users who have good-enough-quality twisted pair telephone lines but are too far from the DSLAM to get good speeds. VDSL2 is quite servicable, it is unclear to me why is it so underutilized in the USA. DSL is a dedicated service, since the telephone line isn't shared with multiple people nor multiplexed in any way, so it provides a very stable connection, if the speed is conservatively set per the line's maximum length.