ON JAPAN'S LATEST BROADBAND STEPS

LEAPS AND BOUNDS

Last fall I posted about how the U.S. is falling behind countries like Japan, South Korea and others, in the broadband speeds available to it's citizens.  Well, CNN has a story that suggests that the lead may expand in the near-term (see the full Techmeme discussion here).  Here's the highlight:

"Japan launched a rocket Saturday carrying a satellite that will test new technology that promises to deliver "super high-speed Internet" service to homes and businesses around the world.

The rocket carrying the WINDS satellite -- a joint project of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries -- lifted off its pad at 5:55 p.m. (0855 GMT).

If the technology proves successful, subscribers with small dishes will connect to the Internet at speeds many times faster than what is now available over residential cable or DSL services.

The Associated Press said the satellite would offer speeds of up to 1.2 gigabytes per second.

The service initially would focus on the Asia-Pacific region close to Japan, a JAXA news release said."

What's amusing are the applications the press release cites that'll be enabled by new broadband vehicle:

"Among other uses, this will make possible great advances in telemedicine, which will bring high-quality medical treatment to remote areas, and in distance education, connecting students and teachers separated by great distances," JAXA said."

I remember those two applications being cited when the first dial-up, internet networks were being rolled out over a dozen years ago.  Including them in any broadband update announcement is like a beauty queen claiming she yearning for world peace in her interview.

Tom Evslin explains in a related post why the latency off this geostationary satellite won't allow a lot of normal web applications,including the ones cited in the press release, to work as expected.

But hey, it sounds good in a press release, so they go with it.

The more things change...

Comments

[Sach]

Shinkansen Internet...

http://tinyurl.com/2te7c7

[Sach]

Shinkansen Internet...

http://tinyurl.com/2te7c7