WildBlue Satellite Services

As mentioned in the previous posts, O3b Networks will utilize Ka-Band. They are surely not the first who use that frequency band for commercial satellite services. Personally, I remembered "WildBlue" when I, for the first time, read about O3b Networks. Sure, if we look at the type of satellites they use and the services they offer, O3b and WildBlue are completely different. But I see they share the same idea: reinventing satellite technology for broadband purposes. Though, I'm a bit dissapointed to know that O3b can "only" achieve a bit more than 1 Gigs/beam or around 10 Gigs/satellite... :-D .. I did hope for a bigger figure :-D

Wikipedia

WildBlue Communications, Inc. offers satellite broadband Internet services to both home and business customers. WildBlue is one of the newer satellite Internet services, having begun operating in June 2005.

After nationwide beta testing, the first residential retail customers had WildBlue service installed at their home in June 2005. During the summer of 2005 a dealer network was established to provide installation and customer service to clients throughout the 48 contiguous United States.

WildBlue claims superior performance both in terms of upload and download speed through its use of newer satellite technology. Specifically, WildBlue uses the Ka band instead of the Ku band used by established competitors. For improved performance, it covers the U.S. and most of populated Canada with many "spot beams" instead of a single, broad beam covering the entire market. It has adopted DOCSIS technology to reduce costs while maintaining quality of service.

The maximum advertised transmission speed with the premium subscription is 1.5 megabits per second download and 256 kilobits per second upload. The satellite equipment costs approximately US$299, exclusive of the mandatory professional installation service. They have in place a Fair Access Policy that slows bandwidth to less than 150kbit/s for users who reach predetermined bandwidth caps on usage.

WildBlue uses the Ka-band exclusively for both the receiving end and the return path on two satellites using VSAT technology.

Anik-F2
This Telesat Canada-owned Boeing 702 Anik-F2 satellite has a Ka-band payload designed for and leased by WildBlue. It has four spot beams for a total of 38 transponders in the Ka-band. It also has C-band and Ku-band payloads for other customers. It is located at the 111.1° W, geostationary orbit slot.

WildBlue-1
WildBlue-1 is a purpose-built satellite built for use by the WildBlue service exclusively. It has 35 spot beams in the Ka-band.[4]. WildBlue-1, was launched on December 8, 2006 at 22:07 GMT aboard an Arianespace Ariane 5. WildBlue-1 is an LS-1300 was built by Space Systems/Loral and occupies the 111.0° W slot. WildBlue-1, while co-located with Anik-F2, requires subscribers to have separate accounts and different equipment than subscribers to Anik-F2.

AMC-15
For added coverage in the southern US, Wildblue has leased space on AMC-15 at 105° W. Initially two extra spot beams will be used. These additional beams will cover all of Mississippi, and small to large areas of Louisiana, Texas, Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Arkansas. This additional capacity will come online Q3 09.

WildBlue Site

WildBlue Mini-dish
WildBlue's mini-dish (28" x 26") both receives signals from the WildBlue satellite, and sends signals from the customer up to the satellite. The WildBlue mini-dish can be mounted on a roof, wall or via pole mount in the ground.

WildBlue Gateways
WildBlue has 11 gateways located throughout the U.S. and Canada that efficiently connect WildBlue's satellite access network with the Internet. Each gateway consists of microwave, Internet, and other broadband equipment that quickly and efficiently route traffic from the customer's PC to the Internet and back. WildBlue connects the gateways to the Internet via a state-of-the-art fiber backbone.

WildBlue Satellite
WildBlue has designed a state-of-the-art Ka-band communications system aboard our own WildBlue-1 satellite and Telesat's Anik F2 satellite, covering the contiguous U.S. with a total of 66 spot beams. Our satellites occupy a geostationary orbit 22,500 miles above the equator at 111.1° West Longitude. WildBlue chose the 20/30 GHz Ka-band frequencies and a spot-beam architecture as the most efficient and effective technology platform to offer broadband via satellite. WildBlue's advanced technology and low cost structure allows us to offer consumers and small office customers higher speeds and lower prices than other satellite broadband companies.