April 17, 2006

Internet Access - No DSL. No Cable. No Fixed Wireless. Satellite

For 15 million hones, about 15% of the United States, cable, DSL nor fixed wireless services can provide them with high speed Internet access. For millions that have dial-up this is "ok" but for MANY more it's NOT an option. There are businesses to grow and dial-up CAN'T help you grow your business.

One solution is internet access via satellite, provided by WildBlue and other providers.

WildBlue competes directly with HughesNet and is a relatively low cost option, starting at $50 per month (more if you want faster speeds and email accounts) broadband Internet access is affordable for businesses that need high-speed Internet access and can't get it via DSL or cable. Equipment is $300 and installation is $180.

Brad Greenwald, WildBlue¬?s Vice President of Sales and Marketing does not consider his service a direct competitor with traditional cable/dsl companies but sees it as a complimentary service.

Cable and DSL providers are only going to service areas where it's most profitable for them and that profitability is where there is a few hundred homes/businesses to service in a certain area. If there's only 3 houses on a hill somewhere in the country, they are not going to want to wire telecommunication cables.

WildBlue has seen a BOOM in business - several hundred new accounts per month in fact in small towns, rural areas, and "second home" areas. For the first time, businesses who are in areas out of reach of cable and DSL can now get affordable broadband Brad told me. Broadband Satellite has been around for years but clearly there's still plenty of demand.

WildBlue, at this time, is not going to try to compete head to head with DSL or cable providers. One reason is that each of its satellites (two) has a finite capacity so there's a physical limit to how many customers WildBlue can effectively serve.

WildBlue's service is professionally installed by 1,000 dealers nationwide. Thesedealerss include electric and phone companies in rural areas.

With 25,000 customer as of December, WildBlue appears to be growing quite nicely - via word of mouth or "mouse". Expect to find more and more rural customers getting high-speed Internet access via satellite.

It helps thatWildBluee, via a 3rd party survey of its customers has an over 94%satisfactionn rate.

0 comments