**** the world now **** eleven network service providers to provide satellite access services, the total number of users has reached more than a hundred million. To use satellite Internet users need to equip their computers with a satellite network PCI card and connect it to a satellite receiving antenna with a diameter of about seventy-five centimeters. The user clicks on a Web site in the browser software, and the Web site request signal is sent from the modem to the user's Internet service provider. The satellite network operation center receives the request signal, according to the user's requirements to the appropriate site to obtain the required information, and then upload the information to the satellite, with high speed and high bandwidth to the user's receiving antenna, and then transmitted to the user's computer.
In addition to the wide range of service areas, the most important feature of satellite Internet access is its speed. In terms of speed comparison, satellite Internet access is dozens to over a hundred times faster than traditional modems, and 28 times faster than a 14.4k Modem, and it supports all standard TCP/IP network protocols and applications, such as HTTP, FTP, SMTP, and so on. So you can download the large files you want very quickly and efficiently. Satellite live network services require system equipment for the Network Operation Center (Network Operation Center, referred to as NOC), 7-11m diameter satellite transmitter antenna, 24M satellite bandwidth consisting of the uplink master station, and at the same time, through the broadband leased line uplink to the Internet, you can get the user to specify access to the network resources, the use of Ku-band QPSK satellite modulation coding into satellite signals uplinked to the satellite, broadcasting the signal to the satellite, and then the satellite signal is uplinked to the satellite. Satellite signals are uplinked to the satellite and broadcast downlinked to users. Clients only need Pentium/90, 16M, 20M HD or more computers, Window95 or NT Workstation4.0 operating system, more than 14.4kbps Modem basic network configuration, with 0.75-0.9m satellite antenna, Ku-band satellite signal receivers, satellite Modem card, driver and application software package. When using, with ordinary MODEM dial ISP, through the MODEM uplink, satellite with 400K rate downlink. At the same time, it provides 3M broadcasting bandwidth for website broadcasting, securities information, data delivery, distance learning, etc. For general enterprises, the digital packet courier and multimedia delivery service of satellite Internet access can be used to broadcast digital information from a single point to multiple points very quickly, such as the delivery of software, e-files, or in-house training course programs to branch offices, distributors, store chains and members, etc. In addition, the broadcasting function of satellite Internet access can be used for the transmission of digital information from a single point to multiple points very quickly. In addition, the broadcasting function of the satellite Internet can be scheduled in advance like a TV program schedule, or according to the user's request. Satellite Internet access service, with its ideal transmission mode of high speed and high rate, is relatively reasonable as far as cost is concerned, so it is being gradually developed as a new broadband access method.
Satellite broadband Internet access was realized nationwide in October, with tariffs comparable to ADSL.
China Satellite Broadband Beijing Guankou Station 24 handover, Northeast, North China, Central China from now on to realize the satellite broadband access to telephone, television, Internet. It is expected that by October this year, Shanghai, Guangzhou, the gateway station will also be opened, when the satellite broadband access will cover the whole country.
According to the person in charge of China satellite broadband system, the use of high-capacity satellite broadband system, not only for the need for stable broadband access to individuals, groups and other high-end users, but also for the terrestrial network is difficult to cover the city blind spots, as well as the construction of ground network is difficult remote mountainous areas. The reporter learned that broadband satellite capacity than the traditional satellite increased several times, so that satellite communications for the first time to achieve economies of scale, thus reducing the cost of use. Measurements show that broadband satellite access and ADSL and other broadband access costs are almost no difference.
The new access technology that can improve this situation to some extent is the high-speed broadband multimedia access system using the American Hughes Corporation Diiec PC technology. This is a one-way satellite broadcasting system that uses asymmetric Internet access.
What is an asymmetric approach
One of the great characteristics of Internet applications is the asymmetric nature of information transmission. A brief request from a user browsing the Internet may result in a downloadable file back with thousands of times the requested information. If downloaded via modem, it often takes a long time. So, is it possible to make the bandwidth for uploading narrower and the bandwidth for downloading larger?
This problem can be solved by using DirecPC, a high-speed, broadband multimedia access technology introduced in 1996 by Hughes Network Systems and winner of Datacom Magazine's 96th Annual New Product Gold Award. In the past few years, Direc PC technology has become popular around the world, with a large number of users not only in the United States, but also in Canada, Mexico, Germany, North Africa, the Middle East, India, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and other countries and regions where it is widely used.
Working Principle
The basic equipment of the satellite system is the Network Operation Center (NOC), which includes a 7-meter-diameter satellite antenna and a 54M uplink master station. Other components include a dedicated broadband network for uplinking to the Internet or broadcasting to subscribers via a Ku-band QPSK satellite modulation encoder.
The working process of the system is shown in this way: the user connects to the Internet through dial-up or other means, such as ISDN or leased line, and forwards the service request, such as browsing web pages, downloading files and other commands to the NOC of the network operation center to be processed. Before the request leaves the user's PC, the software of the user side will append a header code to the request information, and the NCO will delete the header code when it receives the request information, and will then go to the corresponding website to get the requested information according to the address of the information. According to the information address to the appropriate site to obtain the required content, the NOC will then send these contents to the satellite, uplink speed of up to 24Mbps, and then launched by the satellite to the user's receiving antenna and thus enter the computer, in the user side, the minimum configuration for the Pentium90 computer, 16M RAM, 20M hard disk space and more than 14.4Kbps modem in addition to In addition, a satellite antenna with a diameter of 0.75-0.9 meters and a data card included in the computer, as well as drivers and application software are also required. The operating system is Win95 or Win NT.
Technical features:
1, the use of asymmetric high-speed satellite transmission technology to optimize network bandwidth;
2, support for standard TCP / IP protocols, WWW, E-mail, Newsgroup, Telnet;
3, support for unidirectional streaming of visual and audio
3, support one-way streaming video, audio, real-time multi-point transmission;
4, support for a pair of multi-point 3Mbps speed data file transfer, the number of receivers is unlimited;
5, all transmission data to achieve DES encryption, safe and reliable.
Currently, there are 11 ISPs worldwide*** providing similar services, with about 100,000 subscribers, located in the United States, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other places.
In China, by the Guardian Weekly Engineering Department agent of the "StarNet" and Turbo163 satellite access system has been opened, in terms of cost, satellite access with its high speed rate of the ideal mode of transmission, but also more reasonable, regardless of the size of the enterprise or the individual user is enough to afford. Now, Internet users across the country can enjoy high-speed Internet surfing via satellite.
In order to access the Internet at high speed, broadband access technology came into being, several popular Internet broadband access methods are briefly compared, and focuses on the satellite broadband access technology for the Internet, its application areas and development prospects.
Keywords: Internet, satellite communication, access technology, broadband technology
I. Introduction
After more than 20 years of tremendous development, Internet has become the world's widest coverage, the largest scale, the richest information resources of the computer information network, which is not only a dedicated means of transmitting scientific research data between the universities and scientific research departments but has also It is not only a specialized means of transmitting scientific research data between universities and scientific research departments, but also has become a multimedia means for people's daily work, study, life and entertainment. In China, in recent years, Internet business development is more rapid, according to the latest statistics of China Internet Network Information Center, as of October 1999, domestic users have reached as many as 4.5 million, the total capacity of the international line has also reached 241 M. But contradictory to the development of people who have used the Internet have a feeling that the network speed is too slow, especially in the download of information, it makes people feel quite impatient and even give up. It makes people feel quite impatient and even give up accessing, so many netizens jokingly call WWW as World Wide Wait. From the viewpoint of the whole network, the low speed of the existing Internet backbone is one of the reasons for the slow speed of the network, which is gradually solved with the expansion of the backbone; the main reason is that at present, most of the users are still using traditional Internet access methods, i.e., using the traditional Internet access methods, i.e., using the traditional Internet access methods, i.e., using the traditional Internet access methods. Internet access, that is, a pair of telephone lines plus an analog MODEM, even based on the V.90 standard of the latest MODEM is only 56kbit/s, access rate is low, to meet the growing demand for multimedia communications, can be seen that the main access network "bottleneck" effect leads to low network speed. The network speed is too low. Although fiber to the home can solve the access network "bottleneck" effect, and is the future direction of development, but to solve the "last mile" bottleneck will be a huge investment, it is difficult to achieve. Therefore, the search for a high-speed access method that can meet the needs of users and is easier to realize at this stage has become the focus of everyone's attention. In this case, the satellite-based Internet came into being, and increasingly show its strong advantages and prospects for development.
II. Comparison of several Internet high-speed access methods
From the current research results and applications, people are mainly optimistic about ADSL, Cable Modem and satellite, the three Internet broadband access methods.
ADSL broadband access mode, that is, asymmetric digital subscriber line technology, its upstream and downstream transmission rate is not equal, it can in the existing copper twisted-pair cable as the medium of telephone access network to provide hundreds of kbit/s upstream rate and up to 6Mbit/s downstream rate. Its advantages are high access rate, ready-made network, you can surf the Internet and make phone calls. The disadvantage is that the rate is limited by the distance, not available everywhere, need to transform the existing PSTN network. China's Shenzhen Data Communication Bureau has opened ADSL broadband access business, in access to the local network rate can reach 1.5Mbit / s, ADSL terminal equipment and commissioning costs 3800 yuan, monthly rent of 420 yuan.
Cable Modem broadband access, is the use of the existing HFC as the medium of the cable network CATV to achieve high-speed access to the Internet, its uplink rate of up to 10 Mbit/s, downlink rate of up to 30 Mbit/s. Advantages of the access rate is high, there is a ready-made network, you can access the Internet and watch TV, the rate of basically independent of the distance limit. The advantage is that the access rate is high, there is an existing network, you can access the Internet and watch TV, the rate is basically not limited by distance. The disadvantage is that the channel bandwidth of cable TV network is *** enjoyable, which means that the bandwidth of each user will become less and less as the number of users increases; the noise of the user side will be superimposed on the front-end, forming the so-called noise interference "funnel effect"; in addition, the traditional cable TV belongs to the broadcasting type of business, interactive data communication should be paid attention to security and reliability; at the same time, it is necessary to modify the cable TV network, so as to ensure the safety and reliability of the cable TV network. In addition, traditional cable TV is a broadcasting service, so it is necessary to pay attention to security and reliability when carrying out interactive data communication. China's Guangdong video broadband network has opened the Cable Modem service, the current uplink/downlink rate of 10 Mbit/s, equipment installation fee of 2,500 yuan, the monthly fee of 120 yuan/40MB.
Satellite broadband access, refers to the user to access the Internet directly through the satellite, the current rate of satellite broadband access is generally 400 kbit/s, download multimedia at rates up to 400 kbit/s, the rate of multimedia can be downloaded. s, download multimedia rate can be as high as 3 Mbit/s. Advantages are high access rate; not subject to geographical constraints, truly seamless access to the Internet; at the same time can also receive satellite TV. The disadvantage is that it is subject to weather conditions, especially in rainy and snowy weather, the reception will be affected; at the same time, the initial investment cost is higher. China Telecom and Hong Kong's Sunway Communications Network will launch a broadband satellite Internet delivery service called TURBO 163 in China, with an estimated equipment installation fee of about 3,500 yuan and a monthly fee of about 300 yuan at the user end.
Comparing these three Internet broadband access methods, ADSL and Cable Modem have a greater advantage in the metropolitan area network, while in the wide area network, the satellite system is the most promising, which not only realizes high-speed seamless access to the Internet, but also realizes the satellite live broadcast to the home.
Three, the core technology of Internet satellite broadband access
Asymmetric interaction model, we know that the user access to Internet data is asymmetric, the downlink rate requirements and the uplink rate requirements are high and low. The traditional communication equipment and network are based on the symmetric model, in the case of asymmetric information, the utilization of communication resources is very inefficient, implicitly resulting in a waste of resources. The proposed asymmetric interaction model of communication channel matches the asymmetric model of information flow, and this model matching essentially does not increase the capacity of the physical channel, but it will help to improve the efficiency of the system by giving full play to the role of the communication system. The concept of matching asymmetric communication models will be a breakthrough in changing the traditional concepts in the field of communications.
Broadband technology, which can be based on user demand on-demand distribution of bandwidth, to provide different rate levels of service, general personal users only to provide Internet access services; for professional users, in addition to providing high-speed Internet access services, plus multimedia information transmission, web page playback and news broadcasting and other services; for businesses can be connected to the Intranet to provide multiple people at the same time to achieve high-speed Internet access.
Point-to-multipoint broadcasting technology, the satellite system's biggest advantage is the "broadcasting mode", that is, "point-to-point" mode. This one-way, broadcast information exchange for a large number of **** the high-speed transmission of information is very effective, which will undoubtedly be such as distance education, the need for multi-point transmission of information with economic benefits, and the use of general network will need to increase the additional bandwidth and costs.
Super high speed cache technology, in the satellite network operation center (NOC) has a super high speed cache area, where the most popular web sites are stored, in order to facilitate rapid access to the user. Here the NOC is the core of the Internet satellite broadband access system, which is a set of high-performance servers as the core of the computer system. the NOC includes ultra-high-speed cache area, Internet access module, satellite data transmission module. With the function of uplinking data to the satellite, it can access the Internet in real time and at high speed.
There are also technologies such as PUSH push, real-time transmission/control protocol, resource reservation protocol and public key cryptography system.
Four, Internet satellite broadband access system
Currently common Internet satellite broadband access system mainly DirecPC and InSAT, of which DirecPC users more.
DirecPC is a satellite communication system combined with terrestrial telephone network, i.e., the telephone network as the uplink channel, the satellite channel as the Internet's downlink to achieve high-speed access to the Internet. The biggest difference between DirecPC and general telephone transmission is that DirecPC is not a two-way transmission through the satellite, the user's receiving antenna can only download the file, can not issue commands on behalf of the user, so the satellite Internet users need to go through the local ISP to send commands, but all the commands issued are accompanied by a file to download the satellite Internet IP address (the user's computer PC card has a dedicated IP address). However, all commands are accompanied by a satellite Internet IP address for file downloads (the PC card on the user's computer has a dedicated IP address).
The working process of DirecPC satellite direct dial-up Internet service is as follows: when dialing up, the DirecPC software in the user's computer will inform the service provider (ISP) at the same time to forward the Internet access request to the DirecPC Network Operation Center (NOC), and if the site that the user wants to access is in the NOC's ultra-high-speed caching area, the center will transfer the web page content immediately to the user via satellite directly. If the site the user wants to visit is not in the NOC's ultra-high-speed cache area, the center will immediately obtain the user's required information from the network host where the target information is located, and then pass the information to the user through the satellite channel. It can be seen that the satellite channel replaces the transmission channel between the network where the target information is located and the local network as well as the telephone line between the local network and the user, and the transmission rate is greatly improved. Take a 2MB file as an example, it takes 9 minutes to download it with 33.6kit/s MODEM, but it takes only 40 seconds to download it with 400kbit/s via satellite. For users to access the Internet via satellite, in addition to a personal computer, they need to be equipped with a satellite adapter, a pair of dish antennas and a set of DirecPC software. Insert the adapter card into the computer, install the DirecPC software, connect the antenna, and you are ready to access the Internet. In Ku-band, the antenna is about 60cm in diameter.
There is no doubt that the above DirecPC satellite direct-dial Internet service is in fact a one-way "effective broadband network", which mainly uses satellites to solve the problem of high-speed data downloads that cannot be solved by telephone lines, and users still need to rely on the terrestrial telephone network. Users still need to rely on the terrestrial telephone network. For places where it is not yet possible to realize access to the Internet by telephone lines, the satellite access system can be given full play to the characteristics of long-distance communication, cost and distance-independent, covering a large area and not subject to geographic constraints, and the use of bidirectional satellite transmission, i.e., InSAT access to the Internet, thus realizing ubiquitous Internet services.
The two-way satellite transmission can be realized by VSAT. For example, the current TDM/TDMA data VSAT system can be considered to have been designed basically as a client/server model, with a difference of more than ten times in two-way traffic. Of course, other VSAT systems, such as TDMA or SCPC can be used. According to the actual application needs to choose, the existing VSAT system is best to improve, in order to suit the needs of Internet communications.
V. Application Status and Development Prospects
Internet satellite broadband access not only to provide users with high-speed Internet access services, but also to every corner of the earth to transmit information. Because of these advantages of satellite access, satellite communication is rapidly becoming an important way to access the Internet. Internet access via satellite has been widely used in many countries and regions such as North America, Europe, Asia, etc., and its application fields have been expanded to remote courses, medical services, securities services, file transfer, multimedia services and instant news alerts, etc. In our country, with TURBO 163, satellite communication can provide users with high-speed Internet access services and transmit information to every corner of the earth. With the launch of TURBO 163 service in China, it will solve the problem of bandwidth bottleneck caused by the rapid growth of Internet users in China, and it is also believed that with the launch of Internet broadband satellite service in China, it will certainly promote the development of Internet in China.
I. Development of VSAT
Driven by the Internet, satellite communications, like other communication technologies, are turning to meet the overall needs of data communications
. Specifically, on the one hand, the mature VSAT systems based on C-band and Ku-band technologies have evolved to meet the requirements of Int
ernet services and become an important part of the global Internet network, and on the other hand, the broadband satellite communication systems adopting higher K
a-band technologies, which can truly realize personal communications, especially the low orbit satellite cluster system, are opening up
. On the other hand, broadband satellite communication systems using higher K
a frequency band technology, which can truly realize personal communication, especially the low orbit satellite cluster system, are being developed, tested and constructed, and satellite communication has been chosen by more and more telecommunication network operators, ISPs and ICPs as an important means to provide Inte
rnet services. At present, VSAT is the mainstream technology in satellite communication, and its application is quite successful and popular
But the service rate provided by traditional VSAT is not too high, the inbound link rate reaches 64kb/s, and the outbound link rate can generally
reach 512kb/s. With the emergence of a variety of new applications, the high speed rate has been required. A number of large companies competing in the VSAT market
have invested large amounts of money and manpower in a race to increase network speeds. Because the faster a VSAT network is,
the more competitive the companies that sell and buy it will be. VSAT networks currently under construction can accommodate outgoing link speeds of up to 2Mb/s
Rates, and many VSAT companies plan to make their networks 20Mb/s or higher by the turn of the century.
VSAT has been so quick to increase rates that the naming of VSAT products flooding the market is often prefixed or suffixed with words like turbo, cyber and surfer
. For example, some of the latest high-rate VSAT products introduced in the industry are Comsat Labs' Link
way2000 system, GE Spacenet's high-speed Turbosat VSAT, Gilat's SkySurfer VSAT, and New Medi
a's CyberStream VSAT product. .
Speed alone is not enough, the VSAT system also continues to draw on a variety of the latest information technology such as IP Multicast, digital broadcasting technology
technology, PUSH technology, and support for protocols such as TCP/IP, UDP/IP, etc., to extend the characteristics of high-speed broadband broadcasting from satellites to network
applications, and to provide effective solutions for a multitude of new applications. In fact, VSAT has become a part of the high-speed
data business in today's world, especially the Internet.
VSAT system in the Internet access applications are mainly the following ways:
1, for large ISPs to provide remote Internet connection
According to statistics, at present, about 80% of the Internet information content stored in the United States on this computer. Many ISPs, content providers
commercial operators and multinational corporations want to efficiently access the North American Internet backbone, and establish high-speed links to the U.S. Internet through a satellite system
directly. These links can be either rate-symmetric or asymmetric, with a relatively constant flow of data in both directions of the link
path. Due to the asymmetric nature of the volume of Internet traffic, asymmetric satellite links are often provided for the exact needs of the customer
. There are many companies providing such products and services, and the system generally utilizes the
SCPC/DAMA system. For example, Loral Orion provides satellite cross-border private network services to multinational companies in China with the support of China Telecom (Hong Kong) International Access (CTIA)
.
2. Extending the Internet to remote areas and providing links between ISPs
Providing PPP (point-to-point) interconnections to areas with insufficient communications capacity, and providing
high-speed connectivity between a major ISP and its subordinate smaller ISPs, mainly within a country. The inbound rate, i.e. the amount of information sent to the major ISP, is relatively low.
For example, the connection between the China Science and Technology Network (CSTN) network center and its more than 50 entry points throughout the country, the VSAT service network of the Jinqiao Information Network (JINQIN)
, and the high-speed satellite channels of the China Education Network (CEN) can be categorized into this type of application.
3, direct connection to computers (including connection to LAN servers)
For decades, only government agencies and large corporations with deep pockets have been able to enjoy the speed, flexibility and convenience of satellite communications technology, but now a series of new technological developments in satellite communications and computers have made a new architecture for realizing the VSAT system
a reality.
This new architecture is called Direct to PC or PCVSAT, where satellites connect ISP servers
directly to users' computers through point-to-multipoint connections, allowing companies of all sizes and even individual users to take advantage of the
powerful capabilities of space data communications.
1) Principle of operation
In this way, the user accesses the database or network by dialing up, and then receives and downloads the database or
online information at a high speed of up to several hundred K bits or even several megabits through the satellite
receiving antenna with a diameter of about several tens of centimeters and the special receiving equipment. This way gives full play to the existing telephone line access function and satellite communications broadcast function. It has
easy to install, to avoid network congestion, inexpensive, download channel capacity, as well as with fiber-optic approximation of the level of service
level of service and IP broadcasting services, and other advantages, thus becoming the focus of recent development.
Satellite direct connection to the computer business typical terminal products include PC with Modem, satellite reception adapter card, small satellite
antenna (caliber 60-90cm), system software. In an enterprise application, a server is equipped with a satellite receiver adapter and
each PC sends files through the server.
The process works as follows: the user clicks on a web address in the browser software, the web address request signal (URL) is sent from the modem
to the user's ISP, and then before the request leaves the user's PC, the system software appends an IP code
to the URL, which instructs the ISP to forward the user's request for the URL to the satellite system's Network The NOC receives the request, deletes the code, and then transmits the request to the appropriate Web site, which sends the requested information back to the NOC, which then transmits the information to the satellite, which then sends it to the subscriber's satellite antenna at a high-bandwidth rate, and from there to the subscriber's PC or
Web server.
Web server (for business users). This allows web pages to be viewed and documents to be downloaded at speeds of up to 400 kilobits per second (kb/s), up to three times faster than standard ISDN.
2) Availability and use of services
Internationally, one-way satellite Internet access has been more successful in small and medium-sized enterprises and home applications, with Direct PC Inc. of the U.S.
, Direct Internet of Japan, Telesat of Canada, Telstra of Australia, and NIC India, etc.
Internationally, one-way satellite Internet access has been more successful in small and medium-sized enterprises and home applications. Direct Internet in the United States, Telesat in Canada, Telstra in Australia, and NIC in India
are all using the DirecPC system to provide such services in their own countries and neighboring countries. Germany has also launched a similar service called skyDSL
service.
Notably, last year Compaq, the world's largest PC maker, became a DirecPC partner. Subsequently, Compaq announced
a new program to provide users with satellite access to the Internet, beginning in mid-April 1999, offering DirecPC satellite access to custom PC users
who can order DirecPC satellite access for their self-assembled PCs from a store's kiosk, or from Compaq's
Web site. users can subscribe to the DirecPC satellite information service for their self-assembled personal computers in stores or on Compaq's Web site.
In mid-1999, Hughes Networks and America Online (AOL) attracted additional industry attention with a strategic agreement in which AOL invested $1.5 billion in
Hughes Networks for the development of new Internet and satellite broadcasting products and services. Through the partnership, Hughes Networks will offer AOL's interactive TV service to its 7 million DirecTV subscribers, and AOL will offer Hughes' DirecTV and DirecPC services to its 16 million subscribers.
Hughes Networks will offer AOL's interactive TV service to its 7 million DirecTV subscribers, and AOL will offer Hughes' DirecTV and DirecPC services to its 16 million subscribers. Set-top boxes for DirecTV and AOL TV are designed and manufactured
by Hughes Networks.
With a big push from these prominent companies, satellite-connected services are gradually starting to become a new option for Internet access.
China currently plans to use Hughes' DirecPC system to provide users with high-speed Internet access and digital package delivery, multi-
media information broadcasting of broadband satellite communications information network, there are three companies, they are:
①Guangzhou Provincial Post and Telecommunication Administration, and the Hughes network, the Oriental Satellite Company, to provide direct-to-computer 400kb/s
satellite Internet content download service and up to 3Mb/s digital parcel delivery and multimedia broadcasting. It is scheduled to go into operation in the near future
to provide services to business and personal users nationwide.
②Beijing Tianguang Information and Communication Service Co., Ltd, the satellite network operation center constructed by Beijing Tianke Network Integration Company,
has been commissioned. The first phase of the project is mainly for enterprise users, and the user terminals are Hughes' PES end stations plus DirecPC
terminals, i.e., callback via PES satellite circuits and high-speed downloads by DirecPC. Further development is geared toward individual users.
③ China Shuangwei Communication Network, China Cast Technology, in which China Telecom's Data Communication Bureau participates in shares, signed a $3 million contract with Hughes just last
August, and the Shuangwei network purchased DirecPC equipment, utilizing their satellite technology
, to launch a program in China early next year, called the Turbo 163, a satellite Internet program targeting the
1/4 of China's customers who are already online. The company expects to charge no more than twice as much as the current 163 network, but to increase speeds by 20 times -- from the current maximum rate of 38.8K to 400K -- and will be the first in China to use satellites in conjunction with a terrestrial network to provide residential Internet access.
Sunway.com will be the first company in China to utilize a satellite combined with a terrestrial network to provide civilian Internet access services.