Tapping the Web, 22,000 miles up

New York Times

Satellite companies have been the also-rans of Internet providers.

They serve a little more than one million customers, most in rural areas that have no other options. Their services can be painfully slow and cost twice as much as high-speed broadband.

But two companies, WildBlue and HughesNet, are now in a race to change all that. Both plan to launch satellites in the next couple of years that will dwarf their predecessors in space.

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