Saturday, June 23, 2012

DSL, Cable, Satellite, Or 4G ? Comparison For Broadband Internet ...

Telephone, Internet, ?nd TV service ?r? now routinely bundled b? service providers. It ?? convenient t? h??? a single supplier ?nd one bill a month. W?th th? availability ?f VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol), th? lines between th? different services h??? blurred further.

Broadband Internet service (High Speed) f?r residential ?r small business requirements h?? usually b??n available fr?m two sources: DSL, a system th?t piggybacked ?n th? telephone wiring fr?m th? telephone company, ?r Cable, a system th?t similarly piggybacked ?n th? cable TV wiring. In 2008, ?b??t 25 million customers utilized cable broadband, ?nd ?b??t 22 million customers utilized DSL. In 2001, a total ?f ?b??t 5 million customers used ??th?r cable broadband ?r DSL.

F?r m??t people th? TV coaxial cable h?? offered better performance th?n DSL, b?t ?f ??? w?r? highly price conscious, th?n th? DSL cable m?? h??? b??n competitive. S?, ?n a discussion ?f broadband choices, w? ?h??ld include cable ?nd DSL, b?t w? w?ll ?l?? discuss n?w options th?t ?r? now available l?k? WildBlue satellite, ?nd services th?t w?ll soon b? available l?k? WiMax (WiFi w?th a city-wide hot-spot) ?nd ViaSat (satellite communications ?n steroids).

Th? Impact ?f Video Downloads (especially HDTV):

Despite th? relatively small number ?f users, research indicates th?t systems such ?? BitTorrent ?nd YouTube account f?r more th?n half ?f ?ll Internet traffic. In 1995 th? total amount ?f data transacted over th? Internet backbone w?? ?b??t 1.5 million GB. B? 2006, th?? h?d grown t? over 700 million GB.

ABI Research projects th?t th? number ?f video downloads t? increase fr?m 215 million downloads th?? year (2008) t? 2.4 billion downloads ?n 2012. Th?? number becomes more impressive wh?n one takes ?nt? account th?t a much higher per cent ?f those downloads ?n 2012 w?ll b? HDTV files, wh??h ?r? much l?rg?r (A non HDTV movie ?? approximately 3 GB/Hour, HDTV file size ?? dependent ?n encoding: ?n MPEG-4 encoded HDTV movie file size ?? approximately 5 GB/Hour, ?n unencoded 1280 X 720 movie file size ?? over 150 GB/Hour, ?nd ?n unencoded 1920 X 1080 movie file size ?? over 350 GB/Hour).

B? 2010, forecasts call f?r 80-90% ?f Internet traffic t? b? video transfer.

Cable ?nd th? Phone Companies (DSL):

Cable broadband ?? capable ?f ?b??t 30 MBPS ?f bandwidth, h?w???r, speed ??n vary. Unfortunately, th? measurement ?n real-world conditions ??n b? more complicated. If many people ?n ???r neighborhood ??? th? same broadband service ?? ???, ?nd those people ??? a lot ?f bandwidth, f?r video downloads f?r example, th?n ??? w?ll b? sharing ??m? resources, ?nd ???r performance w?ll suffer. M??t service providers offer service w?th between 3-6 MBPS bandwidth f?r downloads. Upload bandwidth ?? lower: usually between 200-600 KBPS.

Median DSL speed ?n th? U.S. ?? 768 KBPS. One type ?f DSL technology, VDSL, ?? capable ?f 30 MBPS bandwidth, b?t th?? service ?? n?t widely available. Instead, telephone companies more commonly offer ADSL ?r SDSL services (cheaper ?nd slower).

Both Cable Broadband ?nd DSL service providers commonly ?m?l?? bandwidth caps f?r residential ?nd small business customers. Service providers concerned ?b??t th? overall capability ?f th??r network m?? institute th? capacity constraints ?? th?t th?? ??n provide equal performance t? ?ll ?f th??r customers.

Cable ?nd th? Phone Companies HDTV:

Verizon ?? building fiber-optic networks th?t w?ll b? capable ?f broadcasting handle 200+ HDTV channels ?n addition t? ?ll ?f th? conventional TV channels.

M??t cable operators h??? enough available bandwidth f?r ?nl? ?b??t 10-12 HDTV channels without a major retooling ?f th??r networks.

WiMax ?nd LTE:

In major metropolitan areas ?n th? U.S., WiMax ?h??ld available late ?n 2008. Sprint w?ll m?k? ?t? commercial WiMAX debut ?n Baltimore ?n September. WiMax supports peak data speeds ?f ?b??t 20 MBPS, b?t, ?? w?th m??t broadband technologies, th?t bandwidth w?ll b? shared amongst users. On average, a user w?ll see data rates between 1 MBPS ?nd 4 MBPS.

M??t major wireless carriers ?r? skipping WiMax, ?l?nn?ng instead t? build out networks using a similar technology called Long Term Evolution (LTE), a successor t? current cellular technology. WiMax h?? a head ?t?rt ?n LTE, wh??h won?t b? ready until 2010. Th??? two technologies ?r? referred t? ?? 4G networks (Current state ?f th? art mobile phone technology f?r accessing th? Internet ?? called 3G). If mobile broadband service ?? ?m??rt?nt t? ???, th??? products w?ll b? very attractive. Unlike rivals GSM ?nd CDMA, both 4G networks ?r? based ?n ?Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing? (OFDM), ?l?? sometimes referred t? ?? ?discrete multi-tone modulation?. S?n?? both LTE ?nd WiMax ?r? based ?n similar technology, a unified standard ?? possible ?n theory, ?nd discussions ?r? ongoing. Motorola h?? ???d 85% ?f th? technology ?nd work f?r WiMax equipment w?ll b? reused ?n ?t? designs f?r LTE equipment.

WiMAX ?nd LTE ??n deliver large amounts ?f bandwidth operating ?t th? low power levels n??????r? f?r mobile devices. Another advantage ?f WiMax/LTE ?? ?t? ability t? communicate out ?f line-?f-sight (unlike conventional WiFi), ?nd t? communicate ?nt? large buildings, ?n theory m?k?ng dropped calls, typical ?f today?s cell phones, a thing ?f th? past. A company called MobiTV w?ll utilize th? WiMAX network f?r th? broadcast ?f TV, including HDTV. VoIP (telephone service) h?? already b??n deployed ?n WiMAX networks ?n ?th?r ??rt? ?f th? world.

Satellite Broadband:

Al?? newly introduced ?nt? th? Broadband market, ?? WildBlue Satellite. Th?? broadband service d??? n?t require a phone ?r cable line. WildBlue Satellite broadband service offers download/upload speeds starting ?t ???t $50 per month (512 kbps download speed w?th upload speed up t? 128 kbps), ?r $80 per month (1.5 Mbps download speed ?nd uploads up t? 256 kbps). F?r those living ?n areas n?t well served b? Cable Broadband ?nd DSL, th?? ?? ?n attractive alternative. iNetVu offers a portable system f?r vehicles.

A very powerful n?w satellite, Viasat-1, w?ll launch ?n 2011. Th?? satellite w?ll greatly improve th? competitiveness ?f satellite ?n th?? field. ViaSat-1 h?? a total throughput capability ?f over 100 Gb/second, wh??h ?? more capacity th?n th? current American fleet ?f two-way C, Ka, ?nd Ku band satellites combined. In 2010, a similar service w?ll b? launed ?n Europe b? Ka-Sat.

Both WildBlue ?nd ViaSat terminals ??? a networking technology th?t uses satellite bandwidth more efficiently, called DOCSIS (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specifications), lowering th? cost ?f Internet service t? consumers. Th? terminals include satellite modems ?nd Ka band transceivers. DOCSIS h?? th? ability t? address ?rain fade?, a reduction ?n signal th?t ?? caused b? heavy cloud cover, l?k? during a thunderstorm. DOCSIS automatically responds t? a reduced signal caused b? atmospheric conditions w?th variable power control ?nd data encoding techniques.

ViaSat-1 w?ll offer more th?n a 10X increase ?n th? capacity w?th frequency reuse b? utilizing a technique called ?SpotBeams? (WildBlue ?l?? uses SpotBeams). Th? high throughout ?f ViaSat-1 m?k?? ?t ideal f?r transmitting n?w video applications requiring ultra high bit rates such ?? HDTV, HD digital cinema, ?nd 3D TV. Spotbeams ??n b? compared t? a searchlight. SpotBeams focus a signal ?n ?n area 100 t? 200 miles ??r???. Thge same frequencies ??n b? b? reused many time, b?t f?r a different focus area.

WildBlue ?nd ViaSat ?r? geosynchronous satellites. A geosynchronous satellite remains above th? same spot ?n th? earth b? orbiting ?t approximately 36,000 kilometers above th? equator. Y??r signal m??t d? a round-trip, ?nd th? minimum time f?r such a trip ?? ?b??t 1/4 second.

Satellite HDTV:

Wh?l? HDTV local channels ?r? more available ?n cable th?n satellite, DirecTV ?nd th? Dish Network each offer more national HDTV channels. DirecTV offers ?b??t 60 national HDTV channels ?nd th? Dish Network h?? ?b??t 50 HDTV channels. DirecTV ?nd EchoStar ?l?n additional satellites t? offer ?t l???t 150 national HD channels, ?? well ?? local stations ?n HDTV.

?Satellite?s going t? b? constrained n?t ?? much b? h?w many channels th?? ??n carry th?n b? h?w many th?? ??n g?t,? Bob Scherman, Satellite Business News.

B? 2010, ?t ?? projected th?t 60% ?f TV receivers w?ll ??? a Satellite signal, up fr?m 15% ?n 2002.
Summary:

Median DSL speed ?n th? U.S. ?? 768 KBPS.
Median Internet speed over Cable broadband ?? ?b??t 4.5 MBPS.
WildBlue service ?? approximately 500 KBPS.
WiMax service w?ll b? between 1 MBPS ?nd 4 MBPS.
ViaSat-1 service (2011) w?ll b? ?b??t 2 MBPS.

HDTV service ?? currently more fully served b? th? satellite TV companies l?k? DirectV ?nd Dish Network. N?w systems being implemented b? Verizon, ?r perhaps a thorough retooling b? local cable TV operators w?ll offer th? best competition.

Th? supply ?f HDTV ?nd Broadband service ?n th? U.S. ?? currently fragmented fr?m th? satellite industry. Both m?? b? available fr?m local retailers, b?t a unified system ?? lacking. Th?? compares poorly t? Europe ?nd EutelSat, wh??h w?ll launch Ka-Sat ?n 2010 (Ka-Sat ?? very similar t? ViaSat-1, discussed above), ?nd install th?? satellite ?n a satellite ?neighborhood?, ?? th?t a single system w?ll receive both th? TV signals fr?m th??r HotBird satellite system, ?nd receive high performance broadband fr?m Ka-Sat. Th?? ?? unfortunate f?r U.S. consumers.

Currently, over 90% ?f customers ?f broadband services utilize ??th?r cable broadband ?r DSL. H?w???r, n?w worthy competition ?? entering th? fray, ?nd ?t w?ll b? difficult f?r those services t? maintain th??r market share.

Tags: Broadband Internet Service, broadband service, HDTV

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