Satellite Internet in Paraguay, South America

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Topic: Satellite internet connection in Paraguay??  (Read 100 times)

jj
Member


Posts: 1

Is there a possibility to install the broadband satellite system in Paraguay?
If so what are the costs for it and who is the provider of the equipment?
 
Please let me know.
 
Thanks for your help.
 
JJ

Daniel Oviedo
Guest

Hi, I am also interested in setting up a satellite internet connection in Paraguay. Please let me know if you get any information.  Thank you.
 
 

Tom
Guest



 

As far as I know Internet via satellite in South America is not recommendable at the moment. The only possible way seems to be a 2-way communication unit, where up- and downstream are carried out by the satellite directly. While browsing the web on further information I found out that the total bandwidth of the satellite (Atlantic Bird 1 @ 12,5°W) is about 15-20 MBit. With an estimated 3000 users being online at the same time there's only a rough 5-6.5 kBit available for each user. Not much more than the standard modem connection can come up with...
Of course those bandwidth estimates can vary, e.g when some user is using heavy-traffic tools like file-sharing, etc.
 
If you consider the rather expensive equipment for a 2-way-solution (Hardware ~ 3.000 US$) and the moderate monthly rates (between 300-1000 US$) I don't think you could count that as an alternative.
The only way would be Eutelsat increasing bandwidth on the AB1, but with a cost of several million US$ line-lease per Transponder I don't think things will change a lot in the near future...
I want you to know that I still didn't give up on that issue. As soon as I come up with something new I'll let you know.
 
Best regards,
TOM
 

USN - Retired
Member




Posts: 188
 

Other than point you to the Bentley-Walker segment on ivsat.htm  and to newera-south-america.htm , I can't contribute any viable information to the Paraguay question. But from my own experience, I can add a more optimistic set of numbers
 
Far from each satellite being limited to 10-12 MB, one satellite transponder used for broadband internet can typically provide a composite 48MB bit-stream. HNS/Direcway - over North America for example - leases over two dozen transponders on 7 satellites, each dedicated to broadband satellite internet use. There are no exact numbers published that I'm aware of, but educated sources consider 8000 users (per transponder) normal and 12,000 crowded. Remember, they oversell this service intentionally, banking on the principle that the entire population will never all be using the service at the same time; shared bandwidth.
 
In the early days, I paid about $600 USD for my hardware, which included freight/tax/installation. Recent price drops cut that figure nearly in half. My two way service costs $60 USD per month. I think that figure may be dropping this year as well.  My uploads leave a bit to be desired, typically 30-50 Kbps. I've reached 110 on a good day single digits on a bad one. Downloads are dynamic, depending upon how much bandwidth is being shared at any given instant. Typically I'm in the 1-2 Mbps window, but it has on rare occasions dipped down near modem speeds - and I've seen high as a combined 6.7 Mbps on 5 simultaneous downloads.
 
Negotiated transponder leases are probably somewhere in the neighbourhood of $150,000 USD per month.
 
// greg //