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**Eivind Kjorstad**

skreiv:

(1) many to many communication satellite network - global wireless
internet

Possibly, but that'd have to be LEO-satelites then. Otherwise latency is
intolerable for many uses due to speed-of-light issues.

And satelites are *very* poorly suited even so. The problem is that you
cover a large area with a signal that is only interesting for -one-
receiver. Which wastes the bandwith of the used channel for everyone
else in that area.

If you can use a very narrow signal, this problem goes away, it's a bit
hard to imagine a swarm of LEO-satelites, each maintaining a large
number of very narrow-beam signals (say laser) with independent receivers.

Keep in mind that the lower a satelite is, the faster it zips by, from
the POV of the receiver. So the satelite would need to be constantly
tracking with all of its beams, and there'd be a constant stream of
handovers from one satelite to the next.

And at the end of the day you get internet to the few places where it
-doesn't- pay to do it the land-based way. Which means there's few users
and/or the ones that are there have low ability to pay for it.

Somehow doesn't sound like a profit-centre to me....

Eivind Kjørstad