On Jul 8, 2020, at 3:05 AM, Mark Tinka <mark.tinka@seacom.com> wrote:
Satellite earth stations are not irrelevant, however. They still do get used to provide satellite-based TV services, and can also be used for media houses who need to hook up to their network to broadcast video when reporting in the region (even though uploading a raw file back home over the Internet is where the tech. has now gone).
Oh man I wish that were wholly true... Satellite/VSAT has another very very important attribute: it's not subject to the whims of the local government or regulators. So when there's an election or some unrest or coup or the prime minister has very bad flatulence, and some person says "turn off the Internet," your non-terrestrial connection is there so that you can continue to do business. Right now I'm in the middle of a project installing more than 300 VSATs, replacing an incumbent provider, and the rationale for all that money and all that equipment and all that work is "the bits must flow." (Plus, there are also still many places outside of capital cities in the world where the Internet is truly awful and if you want bits, you have to bring your own) jms -- Joel M Snyder, 1404 East Lind Road, Tucson, AZ, 85719 Senior Partner, Opus One Phone: +1 520 324 0494 jms@Opus1.COM http://www.opus1.com/jms