16/08/2010 By http://www.boston.com ( Source: http://www.boston.com )

Satellite companies plan Internet push

Satellite companies have been the also-rans of Internet providers. They serve a bit more than 1 million customers, most in rural areas. The service can be slow and costs more than broadband.

But WildBlue and HughesNet aim to change that. The companies plan to launch satellites in the next couple of years. WildBlue’s will have 10 times the capacity of its three current satellites combined. Such behemoths, the companies say, will let them offer Net service at speeds many times faster than they now offer. They say satellites can provide service more easily and cheaply per subscriber than cable and phone companies.

“The cost of reaching you with a satellite dish is independent of where you are,’’ said Arunas G. Slekys, vice president at Hughes Network Systems.

But there will continue to be slight delays — a half-second or so — on users’ computers because signals have to travel into space and back down again. And there’s the question of snow on modem dishes in winter.

WildBlue’s ViaSat-1 is to be the first to go into orbit, early next year. HughesNet’s satellite, Jupiter, will follow in 2012.