Spitzer believes that high-powered spotbeam satellites will also propel data broadcasting forward. Spitzer points to DBS and the Internet as proof that the potential for data broadcasting is enormous. Technology and the market demand are finally colliding, and the result can be fantastic. If the Internet is any indication of the future of data broadcasting, it is a very bright future brimming with opportunity. According to the Strategis Group, Internet usage in the United States topped 62 million users by mid-1998, a 32.6 percent increase over 1997.
All indicators point to a high-speed Internet market on the verge of explosive growth.
In addition, the satellite industry is expected to see a number of new satellite services come online in the near future, including such Ka-band systems as Spaceway, Skybridge and the Teledesic. As Internet usage grows, satellites can play a major role in the multicast distribution of popular content to multiple strategic locations in the global terrestrial Internet. The bandwidth requirements to transmit the data and keep it constantly updated can keep satellite communication systems very busy indeed. Katie McConnell is senior editor of Via Satellite magazine. All rights reserved.