About WildBlue
WildBlue's Mission Is To Make Affordable Broadband Internet Access Available To Everyone.
WildBlue delivers affordable two-way broadband Internet access via satellite to virtually any home and small business in small cities and rural America. WildBlue uses a 26-inch satellite minidish equipped with both a transmitter and receiver for two-way satellite connectivity to the Internet. WildBlue service does not require cable or phone lines. It is accessible to virtually every home and small business in the contiguous U.S., including the estimated 20-25 million homes and small offices that are not wired for terrestrial (DSL or cable modem) service.
WildBlue's approach is based on next generation, two-way wireless Ka-band spot beam satellite technology, which lowers the cost of providing high bandwidth access to the Internet. WildBlue uses industry standard technology in its consumer premise equipment. The resulting low cost structure enables an affordably priced high-speed Internet service that is available across the country.
WildBlue has attracted blue chip strategic investors including Intelsat, the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Liberty Media, and Telesat. In addition, the company has a seasoned management team of executives with vast experience in the Internet, satellite and cable industries. WildBlue's management and technical team is composed of terrestrial and satellite data communications experts from top companies including EchoStar, Tele-Communications Inc., Time Warner Cable, Loral, and Pac Bell. All have been brought together to serve the single objective of accelerating customer access to broadband.
WildBlue's core service offers homes and small offices/home offices (SOHO) an Internet connection that is easy to use, reliable, always on, and significantly faster than standard dial-up service. WildBlue Internet service for consumers includes typical Internet Service Provider features (email, web space, etc.). It opens up a window to a world of rich content that is largely unavailable through dial-up service and largely unavailable in areas unserved by cable modem or DSL service. With WildBlue, for example, consumers can download a movie on demand, attend University courses hundreds of miles away or quickly email a family photo. Though these services are familiar to some, 20-25 million homes and small offices across the country cannot access high-speed internet services because the technology has not reached them...until now.
WildBlue Summary Overview
Service
Analysts estimate that up to 25 million U.S. homes don’t have access to high speed Internet.
WildBlue provides an always-on, broadband Internet service that is comparable to DSL services, and can have file download speeds that are up to 30 times faster than Internet access via dial-up modem.
WildBlue uses a small satellite dish equipped with both a satellite transmitter and receiver for two-way satellite connectivity to the Internet. No phone lines or cable lines are needed to receive WildBlue’s service.
The WildBlue service primarily targets customers living in small towns and rural America.
Technology
The DOCSIS® cable modem and the digital broadcast satellite standards form the technical basis of WildBlue's satellite modem and result in low, competitive customer equipment costs.
WildBlue uses Ka-band "spot beam” satellites to allow multiple re-use of the same frequency, providing higher capacity at lower cost compared to other available satellite systems.
WildBlue launched its service aboard the U.S. capacity of Telesat's Anik F2 satellite launched in July 2004. WildBlue-1, WildBlue’s second satellite, is being built by Space Systems / Loral and will launch in the future based on marketplace demand.