And with cruising speeds promised at 100 Mbps on the downlink and 2 Mbps on the uplink, these new satellites may deliver richer multimedia applications to the corporate enterprise, desktop or wireless device. The high-powered beams let us have smaller terminals and drive more bits through those terminals. These Ka-band systems, which are compatible with ATM, ISDN, frame relay and X.25 transmission standards, will interface directly into an Ethernet LAN or the public Internet. Little else is required than a 26-inch dish and a network appliance about as big as a pizza box that has the routing, firewalling, encrypting and caching needed. Yet to be seen is whether carriers can get new Ka-band systems to come in at the service and price levels needed for the majority of today's businesses.
Availability is the immediate concern.
Because these satellites occupy a higher frequency band, they are particularly susceptible to weather conditions. Availability is expected to be in the area of 99.7 percent, maybe 99.9 percent on a good day, for the continental United States. That may seem adequate by statistical measures, but by corporate measures, anything less than 99.9 percent may be cutting it too close for some critical applications. Despite Liggett's enthusiasm, Ka-band satellites still have several hurdles to overcome before they become mainstream for the average business. But little can be done for the performance lags propagation delay may pose for applications.