Mobile Internet access may get another player: satellite

Mobile Internet, The, Jan, 2005

Kids in the backseats of SUVs watching TV in the U.S. and sophisticated users of the Internet traveling on high-speed trains in Europe are doing something that when combined could lead to high-speed Internet access in automobiles in the U.S. someday in the future.

RaySat Inc. is combining the two functions, and announced a two-way in-motion antenna at the recent CES Show in Las Vegas.

RaySat currently offers two-way satellite always-on technology for satellite TV reception and Internet access in European trains. Passengers can surf the Web and check their emails with the RaySat service. The firm recently established its worldwide headquarters in McLean, Virginia, and is now targeting the U.S. market. One-way satellite receivers are useful for receiving satellite television signals, but two-way antennas can provide Internet access.

RaySat's stock-in-trade is the in-motion, low-profile, phased-array satellite antenna. The firm's two-way TorpedoRay antennas are in use on European trains. The antennas are several inches across and generally from three to five inches high. Salameh said users of the technology could download data up to 2Mbps, with upload speeds of 128Kbps.

If successful, the technology could compete in the U.S. with 3G mobile phone service and with WiMAX, which is capable of covering areas of up to 10 miles. Although WiMAX is already being rolled out by early adopters, the final specifications of the wireless technology still haven't been standardized by the WiMAX Forum. 3G is being rolled out nationwide and one telephony consultant--Joe Nordgaard, managing director of Spectral Advantage--believes 3G leads in the race to provide mobile Internet access. He's not enthusiastic about the chances of satellites providing two-way Internet access for automobiles.

"It shouldn't be hard to send high-speed data to everyone in broadcast mode," he said. "But it will be more difficult for two-way data broadcasts, particularly in densely-populated areas like the East Coast. And WiMAX has quite a few issues. There's still no chipsets. There's no global allocation for frequency designated specifically for WiMAX."

Nordgaard notes that 3G already has a headstart with several cellphone service providers already providing 3G service in multiple nationwide markets. Qualcomm is providing versions of its proprietary CDMA technology that are being rolled out, he notes.

As for RaySat, although its two-way Internet service is still a gleam in its corporate eye, the firm's technology could represent a new player in providing mobile wireless Internet access in the future.