It doesn't take a Terrorist Act, Tsunami or Earthquake to put a business heavily dependent on the internet in the dark and effectively out of business??for hours or even days into weeks.

Actually, a misguided backhoe, a lightning bolt, a car accident involving a phone pole or cable box, a flooding rain or an electrical "brown out" can do it in a flash. And what company in the 2000's isn't dependent on email, e-commerce, advertising and collaboration on the net? You say, "We have cable backup for our T1 or T3" (if you are big enough) in the event of a failure??.terrific, a terrestrial backup solution for a terrestrial problem ? WAKE UP! The backhoe can cut cable as efficiently as it did the phone line!

The only way to have 99.5% effective backup, regardless of what happens, is a satellite vsat internet solution?period! In the past, unless you were Fortune 100 material and had at least 200 sites, the satellite internet offerings were expensive and incredibly slow ?as in not much better than a ISDN line (which is crawling by today's standards!). The only companies offering ANY satellite solutions would come out, put up a .74 meter dish and tell you your problems were over. "Not Exactly" ? as the car folks say. You fire up the dish to test it ? put 20 users on the router and the whole thing bogs down to below dial up speed. You try to handle a remote printing application and it won't work??.on and on with the disappointments. Finally in 2004-05 there are cost effective and very fast bi-directional satellite systems available for companies who don't have 200+ locations !

There are VSAT terminals available today that cost the same as the initial prices of the "consumer grade" systems of two years ago?between $2,100 to $5,995 which can provide guaranteed speeds of 2000+ kbps download capacity and over 1000 kbps upload capacity! That's right ? guaranteed speeds! And the great thing is that when you aren't using them (as in nearly all the time), they don't cost an arm and a leg to keep "on standby". Another big advantage in the technology of today is the ability to overcome the number one bugaboo of satellite internet ? latency and rain fade. The new offerings have largely mitigated both issues with the use of Internet Protocol throughout the transmission (rather than trying to convert TV type signals into IP) and variable watt transmitters which "ramp up" during poor weather conditions. The satellite internet dish is a bit larger ? 1.2 meters - and costs a bit more to install, but combined with the new indoor modem/router, it runs circles around the DirecWay and Starband offerings.

The technology isn't perfect even today - but when you are down?.well, your down!

An experienced Sales Engineer with a reputable VSAT provider can guide you toward the right backup solutions for your organization. Get on the phone and get the protection your company needs??sooner or later you will be down!

About the Author: Randy Scott has been involved in the bi-directional satellite internet industry from it's beginning as a Sr. Sales Engineer, consultant and business owner. Randy is the founder of VSAT U.S., a consulting and sales organization, representing the most prestigious satellite internet providers in the America's. For more information about current VSAT satellite internet offerings including Ka band, visit http://www.vsatus.com or email randy@vsatus.com