"Internet in the Sky"


A new company called Teledesic is in the middle of developing an amazing technology that would take near impossible Internet tasks, and turn them into everyday solutions. Through use of Low-earth-orbit-satellites, Teledesic aims to create an end to end technology that would meet the high broadband demands of businesses, schools, and individuals. In essence, they are creating a broadband "Internet in the Sky" that will create the worlds first network to include computer networking, broadband Internet access, high-quality voice, and several other digital data needs.


The Vision

Today, advanced telecommunications infrastructure is limited to developed urban areas of the world. This leaves most of the world’s population without access to even basic communications services. Even those areas with basic voice service get access through 100-year-old technology, mostly analog, copper networks that for the overwhelming part will never be upgraded to support digital broadband services. Areas that do have broadband access are often unable to receive a guaranteed end-to-end quality of service that meets the needs of growing enterprises. Teledesic is making an effort to bring advanced communications to everyone on a global level. The Teledesic plan will be able to reach 100 percent of the world’s population, and 95 percent of all land mass. The network will consist of 288 operational satellites organized into 12 plans with 24 satellites each. Users will be able to access speeds 2,000 times faster than today’s standard modem. Most users will have two-way connections that provide up to 64 Mbps on the downlink and up to 2 Mbps on the uplink. Broadband terminals will offer 64 Mbps of two-way capacity.

The project has received backing from such strong-arms as cellular pioneer Craig McCaw, Microsoft Chairman William H. Gates, and billionaire Saudi Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. In addition, Teledesic also has financial backing from communications giant Motorola, and aerospace leader Boeing.


The Technology

Essentially, Teledesic will provide its worldwide access by using low Latency of a low Earth-Orbit Constellation of satellites. The network will be able to serve as the access link between a user and a gateway into a terrestrial network, or as a means to network together.

The Teledesic Network consists of terminals, network gateways, network operations, and control systems, along with the satellite-based switch network that provides the communication links among terminals. Teledesic terminals communicate directly with a satellite network and support a wide range of data rates. The terminals also interface with a wide range of standard network protocols such as IP, ISDN, and ATM. Although optimized for service to fixed-site terminals, the Teledesic Network is able to serve transportable and mobile terminals, such as those for maritime and aviation applications.

The network combines destination-based packet addressing and adaptive packet routing algorithm to achieve low delay and low variability across the network. Each one of these packets carry the network address of the destination terminal, and each node selects the route with the least delay to get to the destination. In terms of network, a large constellation of interlinked switch nodes offer several advantages in terms of reliability and service quality. The network, richly interconnected, is a robust fault-tolerant design that adapts to topology changes and congestion. To achieve high system capacity and channel density, each satellite is equipped to concentrate a large amount of capacity in small coverage areas. Should a satellite fail, the network would remain functional by having overlapping coverage areas plus backup spares. Therefore, reliability has been built into the whole network rather than on the individual satellites. The network also supports bandwidth on demand, which allows users to request and release capacity as needed. Therefor, users only pay for the capacity they use, allowing available space for other users in return. With the increase in usage however, Teledesic has only to add more satellites to meet a growing demand.


Their Progress

In 1990 Craig McCaw founded Teledesic with his great new plan to revolutionize the communications industry. After four years of research and development, Craig McCaw becomes Chairman and CEO of Teledesic in 1994, and also becomes the company’s primary shareholder along with Bill Gates. In 1994Teledesic submits their first application to the FCC for a license to build, launch, and operate a global broadband satellite communications network. In November of 1995, the World Radiocommunication Conference provisionally designates 500 MHz of satellite spectrum, in each of the uplink and downlink bands, for use by NGSO FSS systems such as the one proposed by Teledesic. In March of 1997, the Federal Communications Commission granted Teledesic their license to build, launch and operate the Teledesic Network. Making history, Teledesic becomes the first satellite communications network approved by the FCC that will enable affordable, worldwide "fiber-like" access to telecommunications services.

Later that year, Boeing announces it will invest 100 million dollars in Teledesic, and in April of 1998, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal invests 200 million. In May of 1998 Teledesic and Motorola form a partnership in the development and deployment of Teledesic's satellite communications network. Confirmed in 1999, Teledesic completes system agreement with Motorola, and signs major launch contract with Lockheed Martin. If all goes well in development, Teledesic looks to be available in 2004.