At a time when many people in rural America have given up hope of receiving high-speed Internet connections, executives at the World Communication Center (WCC) have good news. While DSL providers and cable companies have overlooked or completely ignored residents living in rural and suburban areas, commercial-strength satellite broadband providers like WCC can show customers how to pull high-speed connections out of thin air.

To build broadband networks in remote areas or on the outskirts of large cities and towns, service providers need access to high-speed Internet backbone connections to carry data traffic to and from their remote areas and to the rest of world. In many cases, when entrepreneurs or ISPs contemplate building a local broadband network for residents and businesses in rural areas, the local phone company informs them that they cannot get access to the high-speed data circuits, such as T1s or DS3s, needed to feed their networks. However, they fail to tell prospects that satellite broadband providers such as WCC can provide up to 5mbps of bandwidth. That capability makes it possible for rural service providers to build the broadband networks anywhere in the United States.

A VSAT consists of two parts, a transceiver placed outdoors in direct line of sight to the satellite and a device placed indoors to interface the transceiver with the service provider’s data network, such as an Ethernet switch or router. The router can connect to a wired or a wireless network, which then feeds local residential customers and businesses with high-speed Internet connections. The VSAT antenna in the remote area carries information requests to a satellite, which then requests data from another earth station connected directly to the Internet. The earth station collects the information and sends it back to the customer in the remote area.

Once a town installs the satellite VSAT Internet backbone service, it then builds a local wireless network to distribute the bandwidth to regions where businesses, residents and roaming customers need access to high-speed Internet connections.

The ISP first performs a wireless site survey of the town to check for any existing wireless signals that might interfere with the new wireless ISP’s operations.

For example, another wireless ISP might be operating 10 to 20 miles away. Without proper planning, turning on a new set of wireless base stations might interfere with that operator’s system. Operators should always scan an area for wireless signals before turning on a new wireless system.

Once the airwaves have been cleared for new wireless traffic, the next step is to find elevated locations conducive to wireless cell towers or base stations. The tower’s point-to-point antennas beam the wireless signals from base station to base station via a wireless Internet backbone using 5GHz radios. A different set of 2.4GHz or 900MHz radios is used to deliver wireless bandwidth from the base station or access point to local customers.

The wireless network serves both fixed and mobile customers. For customers in fixed locations, the wireless ISP mounts a small directional antenna on the outside of the building that connects the structure, with clear line of sight, to a base station up to 15 miles away. Fixed antennas can deliver the same type of bandwidth usually associated with T1 lines (streaming at 1.5mbps). Wireless T1s are perfect for serving business customers and provide the best ROI for rural wireless ISPs.

To provide wireless access to roaming users, the wireless ISP installs a series of outdoor access points that delivers local bandwidth using 2.4GHz radios. Most 2.4GHz access points have a range of several hundred feet, depending on the radio’s signal strength. Access points should have a minimum of 200 to 500 mWatts of power to provide the best performance. The same holds true for wireless antennas that customers use to communicate with the local access point. Laptops equipped with a 50 mWatt PCMCIA card will need to be within 100 feet of the access point, while customers with a stronger 200-mWatt wireless card can get access as far away as 1,000 feet.

The costs for remote VSAT Internet backbone connections are lower than most customers would expect. The VSAT earth station starts at $2,000 for equipment that can deliver 500kbps to 5mbps of Internet backbone connectivity. Monthly satellite service plans start at $79 to $199 for a 500kbps to 1.5mbps connection.

The wireless ISP equipment needed to distribute wireless coverage to local customers can vary greatly depending on geography and topography. If an area is flat and has no trees, the costs will be much lower than an area with many trees and hills. Outdoor access points can range anywhere from $1,000 to several thousand dollars each. A wireless base station with point-to-multipoint capabilities can run as high as $50,000. On the customer side, fixed wireless customer premises equipment can run $250 to $500 each, depending on the power level needed to talk back to the base station. Wireless PCMCIA cards needed for outdoor access points range from $50 to $100 each.

Building a wireless network that supports both fixed and roaming customers can serve many useful purposes. Point-to-multipoint fixed antenna connections can link offices to a centralized network and enable instant communications. Outdoor access points provide wireless connections to any mobile user, which means that anyone using a laptop with wireless capabilities can access the Internet. Groups of potential users include visitors passing through town, residents or even public workers that need access to Internet-based applications as they make their rounds in patrol cars, fire trucks or utility vehicles.

WCC's Sam Roney

Sam Romey is president of World Communication Center (WCC). He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .