World Biz Info
The source of the best business, financial and legal news
web www.worldbizinfo.com
Business Informations

Direcway & Wildblue Set to Square Off this Fall?


There is a cat fight brewing between Direcway LLC, Starband and Wildblue Communications for the large number of people in the U.S. who can't get some type of broadband internet and are willing to pay $50 or more to get better speeds. The combatants are telling investors there are 20-30 million "potential users" out there in rural or underserved America...true, but the historical fact of the matter is that up to now, only 500,000 or so have been willing to pay as much as $50-$100 a month for the "so called" high speed services offered by Direcway, Starband and now Wildblue. What has changed to stir all the press and advertising hubub by the companies? The claim is that both the Wildblue ka band and new Direcway 7000 offerings will finally give consumers a more DSL/Cable-like internet experience...ie lower latency and higher upload speeds. They expect that tens of millions of rural Americans will flock to their doors to pay over $50 per month to be "connected". To a degree they are right. It has become virtually impossible to funcion as a business without broadband internet and it is more and more difficult as a consumer to do without it. Even retailers (who obviously target consumers) are building sites that are very difficult to navigate unless you have a fast connection to the net. Pictures chew up bandwidth.

More and more people have found it less expensive to buy over the net...after all, we are nearing $2.50 gas now and who knows where it will end up. Imagine the cost of going to a store in a rural area in a vehicle that is getting 12 mpg (pickup with a V8) with $2.50 gas? Quick math says it would run you about $16.00 for an 80 mile round trip.....do that three or four times a month and buying at home from your easy chair starts looking pretty good. And you have time left over to plow a few fields if you like. Pretty easy picture to get. The problem is that all too many rural Americans already figured that buying from home is a good thing...they just do it by the old reliable U.S. mail order system. No computer or internet required.

The marketing effort by the "combatants" needs to focus on how much better the experience will be over the net. Perhaps they can throw in some instructions on how to overcome the fear of computers and typing as well. This is what I beleive is hampering the efforts to reach rural America by satellite internet...fear of the potential user of new ways of doing things. This is a generational thing...younger rural folks are going to find the internet the only way to travel in the future, but by that time WiMax should cover most of rural America with cable/dsl-like pricing and satellite dishes might be used as birdbaths.

The point of this piece is to arm investors....don't make a long term bet on Wildblue or Direcway! They will provide a bridge to up to 1,000,000 or so underserved rural consumers and could make a splash over the next two years or so, but they will never reach the vaulted numbers they strive for within a timeframe to make a large impact or long term profits in the rural underserved marketplace.

About the Author:
Randy Scott has been involved in the bi-directional satellite internet industry from it's beginning as a Sr. Sales Engineer, consultant and business owner. Randy is the founder of VSAT U.S.(http://www.vsatus.com), a consulting and sales organization, representing the most prestigious satellite internet providers in the America's.


MORE RESOURCES:

Los Angeles Times

Energy Investing in a Carbon-Conscious America
Morningstar.com, IL - 7 hours ago
Given that the 110th Congress produced six carbon cap-and-trade bills and that President-elect Barack Obama has so far stood by his campaign rhetoric ...
climate crusaders set to act in Congress MSNBC
google news commentComment by Frank O'Donnell President, Clean Air Watch
all 1,637 news articles


PepsiCo investing $3 bln in Mexico over next 5 years
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
By Wallace Witkowski , , ) said Thursday it plans to spend up to $3 billion to build its brands in Mexico over the next 5 years. ...


ON INVESTING - Top ten tips for year-end tax strategies...
Valley News Today, IA - 13 hours ago
Track investment expenses - Work with your advisor to keep a full accounting of deductible expenses associated with your investment portfolio. ...


BBC News

US panel urges action on China currency, investing
Forbes, NY - Nov 20, 2008
By Doug Palmer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Congress should pass legislation next year to pressure China to raise the value of its currency and require Beijing's ...
China winning cyber war, Congress warned guardian.co.uk
all 367 news articles


BBC News

Saving and investing: Your questions
BBC News, UK - 1 hour ago
On Monday's programme Vincent Duggleby will put your questions about saving and investing to a panel of experts. In these financially uncertain times, ...


The No Debt Investing Thesis
Motley Fool - 6 hours ago
With all the other action going on in the markets today, I almost forgot that I added a whole slew of green thumbs to my CAPS scorecard today. ...


Help for mounting 401(k) losses
CNNMoney.com - 18 hours ago
Just telling someone to "stay the course" isn't an adequate answer any time an investor expresses doubt or confusion about an investing or planning strategy ...


International Business Times

ETF Investing: We Get Sick In Recessions! XPH and IHI Healthcare ...
BloggingStocks - Nov 20, 2008
If you see the benefit of this and want to put some money into a health care related investment, look into an Exchange Traded Fund (ETF) that will give you ...
SpeculatingStocks.com Announces Two Possible Ways to Play a ... PR Web (press release)
all 4 news articles


Buffett firm invests in USG
Chicago Tribune, United States - 13 hours ago
Buffett, known for his investing acumen, is already the the Chicago building-product concern's biggest stockholder. His Berkshire Hathaway Inc. investing ...


Invesco PowerShares Lists Actively Managed US Real Estate Fund on ...
MarketWatch - Nov 20, 2008
The PowerShares Active US Real Estate Fund (PSR) seeks to provide high total return by investing in publicly traded US real estate companies selected using ...

investing - Google News

home | site map
© 2006
web www.worldbizinfo.com