Satellite broadband doesn’t have the speeds and price...
Satellite broadband doesn’t have the speeds and price necessary to compete with wireline services, despite industry’s claims to the contrary, said Montana Public Service Commissioner Travis Kavulla at a NARUC panel Monday. The PSC recently surveyed broadband customers, and none…
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of the satellite customers had anything positive to say about the service, he said. “We don’t have service at higher speeds yet, but as we continue to put up more satellites, we will see higher speeds in the coming years,” said Jennifer Manner, EchoStar vice president-regulatory affairs. Satellite broadband is “picking up steam” in rural and “exurban areas,” and satellite broadband has 1.3 million subscribers in the U.S., she said. “Subscribers are seeing our services as an important competitive alternative to fixed services.” Cable providers also consider satellite broadband services a “tool in the tool box” for regulators and policymakers to provide broadband in rural areas, said Rick Cimerman, NCTA vice president-state government affairs. “When it comes to getting broadband to all Americans, we need to consider satellite as an option.” Satellite providers such as Dish Network and DirectTV dominate the telecom market in terms of subscribers, said Cimerman. Satellite providers don’t dominate the two-way communication market, said Kavulla. “Satellites are not good to monitor time sensitive traffic. The reality is when you talk about the other pitfalls like latency, capacity and speed I would be surprised if anyone chose satellite over a good fixed broadband plan.”