Here too the hackers get into the act. The huge corporations which launch and operate these billion-dollar satellites wish to extract every ounce of profit they can. Thus, users are often required to buy their dishes and circuitry, and then pay rent to use them. Thus, the 'decoder box' black market. Signals are encrypted, the code is broken and bootleg boxes sold, then new software is issued and the cycle begins again.
Special signals are sent which fry the illegal boxes, then the hackers build new ones.
There are already suitcase-sized satellite cellular phones, which enable one to place a call from anywhere, even the middle of the ocean. Shortly, these phones will be pocket-sized, and will include computer modems. The folks who best predicted today's 'future' were early science fiction writers like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Jack London. Everyone's looking to the future more earnestly than ever. Pocket-sized cellular phones are here now.