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[RFI] BPL alternatives

To: <rfi@contesting.com>
Subject: [RFI] BPL alternatives
From: k5uj at hotmail.com (Rob Atkinson, K5UJ)
Date: Fri Jun 6 20:26:24 2003
The Sprint broadband service is (or was, not sure if it's still in business 
here or not) in the Chicago area also.  They put antennas on top of Sears 
Tower.  Out here in the burbs, users would stick these spindly 20' masts on 
their roofs with patch antennas inside plastic radomes also containing the 
transmitters on top.  they would usually use these relatively tiny 3' 
tripods making the whole thing look a little ridiculous to me.

If you are out in the country &  not served by terrestrial broadband you can 
subscribe to Hughes Direcway service, a two-way satellite access system 
(http://www.direcway.com).   This has a footprint that totally covers N. 
America including Alaska and the data rate is pretty high, ~ 300 Kb I 
believe.
The last time I checked, the monthly fee was competitive.
Since most folks in the country have a look to the southern sky, this is a 
viable alternative in my opinion.  In reading the FCC's BPL NOI I saw again 
and again the thinking that BPL would serve rural customers for whom 
broadband access is unavailable.  That is simply not true--it is almost as 
if the FCC never heard of Direcway.

Rob Atkinson
K5UJ

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