Expanded satellite network offers broadband, but do you want it?

摘要

Keeping in touch just got easier ?and harder. Easier, because of a bunch of new options. Harder, because of a bunch of new options that you'll have to sort through. When Inmarsat turned on a new satellite over the Pacific recently, it brought true high-speed broadband service to the North Pacific. The 1-4 Satellite made the information pipeline a lot bigger, overnight. Inmarsat now has coverage from 72 degrees latitude north to 72 degrees latitude south -- from Barrow, Alaska, to the Ross Sea of Antarctica. But that's not to say other communications companies have surrendered. Just the opposite.