Not everyone in the U.S. has access to fixed broadband internet service. According to the most recent report from the Federal Communications Commission, 6 percent of people lack access to high-speed internet. That’s around 19 million people — about the population of the entire state of New York — without reliable, fast internet. If you operate a business in an area that can’t access fiber-optic or high-speed cable connections, this is a pain point. Fast, always-on internet connectivity isn’t an optional luxury in the age of real-time customer communication and up-to-the-minute shipping and logistics updates. It’s a mission-critical necessity.
If you’re in a rural area that doesn't have fiber-optic connectivity or are in one of the many urban or developed areas that, due to some irregularity in infrastructure, lacks access to the same broadband network that might exist just across the street, this is more than a minor inconvenience. For the many “forgotten businesses” not served by a terrestrial broadband provider, it’s a major problem.
There’s a solution: satellite internet. Available everywhere in the U.S., satellite internet technology now provides reliable speeds that rival or even exceed those of traditional business-class broadband connections. Internet connectivity speeds of up to 100 Mbps down and faster are now available to business consumers who were previously limited to antiquated speeds and outmoded infrastructure. The technology that drives satellite internet has advanced exponentially over the past few years, and access to it is now both more robust and more affordable than ever.
Even small business ventures need to be concerned with business continuity. The ability of a business to operate, communicate, and stay agile under any circumstance is a key competitive edge. There is perhaps no more resilient broadband connection than satellite internet. Earthquakes, floods, wildfires — almost any natural disaster you can think of — don't impact the availability or quality of satellite internet service. As long as you have power and an operational satellite dish you can point to the sky, high-quality, secure, fast connections will remain available, stable, and dependable under circumstances that would disrupt terrestrial-based networks for months.
The satellite internet industry is poised to provide high-quality, fast internet access to billions of people and emerging markets on a global scale in the near future. Today, satellite internet is bringing superfast, reliable internet connectivity to businesses across the U.S. The technology that powers those advances includes high-capacity satellite systems, which are being developed and launched into orbit on an ongoing basis. These promise even more improvements in speed and services over the next several years. Right now, satellite internet is the single best high-speed, dependable solution for business ventures trapped inside one of the broadband cable and fiber optic dark zones.