The Russian company Bureau 1440 told RIA Novosti journalists about its readiness for the commercial launch of satellite Internet in Russia in the coming years. It will be possible to use the service of access to high-speed Internet on land, sea and air transport.
“If you look at the current Internet coverage of the Moscow-Vladivostok route, it is catastrophically small. And when we start providing broadband Internet access from 2027, it will be possible to get Internet all the way. The same is true for airplanes and ships,” said Ksenia Lazarenko, Director of Laser Terminal Development at Bureau 1440.
The company considers industrial and transport organizations to be its key customers. In particular, partnership agreements have already been signed with Russian Railways and Aeroflot. According to Ksenia Lazarenko, the possibility of installing a terminal for access to satellite Internet in each train is now being discussed with Russian Railways.
Satellite internet is one of the most expensive broadband connections. For many rural residents, it’s one of the only internet options. It’s by no means the fastest internet connection type, but satellite internet offers a lot of reliability and convenience. Satellite internet is the only connection type available across all 50 states, making it a top contender for rural customers with few options.
Like satellite TV, satellite internet requires radio waves transmitted from satellites in low- or high-Earth orbit. Internet service providers use data centers, which are connected to an internet network, to funnel information back to your receiver dish. You must place the dish in a position with a clear line of sight to work effectively. You’ll connect a modem to that dish to translate the incoming signal into a workable internet connection.
You’ll need electricity to keep the receiver dish powered (and, again, a clear view of the sky), but that’s really about it. Satellite internet isn’t dependent on cable, fiber or phone lines. Ground-based technologies like those aren’t as well-developed in rural areas because the lack of population density means ISPs must spend more to cover the increased ground to bring the same number of households online.
Satellite internet sidesteps that problem by skipping ground-laid infrastructure altogether, making satellite internet a convenient option for an internet connection. Launching satellites into space is expensive, but once a sufficient network is available, companies can offer broadband satellite internet to customers over a wide swath of the planet, even in pretty remote places.
The top satellite internet providers in the country are Viasat, Hughesnet and Starlink. Viasat and Hughesnet have been in the business of satellite-based communications for decades. Starlink is a relative newcomer to the industry, but a strong contender.
Satellite internet technology allows data transmission and reception via a compact dish located on Earth, which communicates with a geostationary satellite positioned 22,300 miles above the equator. The satellite is responsible for transmitting and receiving data to and from a designated location on Earth known as the Network Operations Center (NOC), pronounced “knock”. The NOC is connected to the internet or a private network, and thus acts as an intermediary for all communication between the satellite dish and orbiting satellite before reaching the internet.
To keep up with the competition, Hughesnet launched its JUPITER 3 satellite in 2023, one of the largest commercial communications satellites built, which allows for improved download speeds of up to 100Mbps satellite internet customers. Meanwhile, Viasat has started offering a plan with download speeds as high as 150Mbps, but that speed is not available in all locations. According to Ookla’s Q1 2024 report, Viasat averages around 34Mbps in download speeds, with Hughesnet offering a mere average of 15Mbps. Starlink averages 64Mbps, beating out both Viasat and Hughesnet speeds.
It should be noted that in June, Bureau 1440 successfully tested satellite Internet.
