Rural folks face a lot of problems connecting to the Internet despite the rise in technology. Many still rely on slow and unreliable DSL connection to access the world wide web. Despite plans from a few providers to extend services, many rural communities are still beyond the reach of wired-service, or in recent developments and trends, fibre networks.
Usually, residents in the said areas turn to satellite internet. Back then, the technology was considered a last resort due to the high-costs of getting satellite hardware and having a satellite dish installed. Usage limits were also pretty strict in the technology, and latency issues plagued the service, worsened only by radio or rain fade interference.
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The past years, however, have seen a rise in satellite internet service. Hughes Network has already penetrated the market while just recently, Dish Network announced its own broadband via satellite service aimed at rural communities. Companies like ViaSat are also looking to tap into the increased demand for the wireless technology, transitioning from a revenue mostly based on Government-satellite service, to high-speed internet solutions.
Recently, the rise of the ka band spectrum as a commercial opportunity has also contributed to more operated offering internet from satellite service. Ka band is said to be the logical successor to C-band and Ku band, both of which are already inevitably on the way to saturation. The latest spectrum will deliver more powerful capacity with the launch of equally powerful birds in the coming years.
However, it is important to note the fine print in many of today’s satellite internet services offered to rural clients. For example, Dish Network’s DishNet service requires you to bundle the broadband package with its TV packaged unless you want to shell out an additional $10. Plus, if you’re a new customer, hardware installation fees can also add up to another $10. Other conditions also limit the use of the allocated data cap to specific time periods only.
Other options for rural folks include broadband from cellular-data service but the technology too, fails to reach the remote countryside. The Federal Communications Commission is looking on a National Broadband Plan to deliver Internet access to the nearly 20 million American cut off from high-speed broadband connections.
Some plans include reclaiming no unused or underused TV channels to create more spectrum room for wireless data connection. But until any of these plans materialize, rural folks may just have to rely on satellite broadband and hope for improvements in the service, and the fine-print.
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