Sun 11 Nov 2007
Getting Online Anywhere In The World With Satellites
Posted by Paul Freeman under Planning , Technology , Travel , WorkI really got hooked on the idea of been able to get online and work from anywhere I wanted which lead down the route of doing some research on satellite phone technology, and using it for data access.
It’s very easy to turn up some results that tell you that indeed you can get internet access via a satellite link, but getting some firm prices is a little more tricky. Still, in the end I found one site that offered some all inclusive prices with it’s products.
The technology to get online is called Broadband Global Area Network (Or BGAN for short) which offers a very fast access service, compared to I guess using a voice call and modem type setup. (Which I didn’t look at too closely, since BGAN looks to be exactly the technology I want to be using) and it comes it speeds at upto around 400kbs.
Looking at the costs, a satellite terminal costs around £1500 to £3000 depending on the model, and data costs are about £4.76 per Megabyte, which you buy as a prepaid £900 for 189MB. Voice costs are about 75pence per minute, which is actually half the price of my mobile providers roaming tariff for more remote locations. So while the whole solution certainly isn’t cheap, it’s not outlandish either, and I’m sure with time I can find some better prices, and of course in a years time the prices might drop down somewhat. Not cheap enough to allow full internet usage, but for email and blogging, there is real potential.
