This satellite looks awesome, but it's basically being put into service by the satellite ISP WildBlue, which ViaSat bought in late '09. My parents live in a rural area and rely on WildBlue for their internet (they have a dish on the roof), so really this headline was deceiving for me. Why? you wont get 140Gbps of internet speed - WildBlue gives you satellite internet in 7,10,12Gb (etc) TOTAL bandwidth per month. So they will break bandwidth up from this satellite to handle traffic for another 30+ million customers, which is pretty huge, but you definitely wont be getting some super-rapid internet service, unless somehow they change their pricing.
Other drawbacks from WildBlue or satellite internet (in case you're thinking about signing up):
- Limited (low) monthly total bandwidth caps = no online movies, Netflix, or even working online more than 3-4 hours daily.
- high latency, meaning VoIP services like Skype absolutely don't work. No online telephone calls, etc.
- Pretty costly at around $40/month for just 7Gb of total bandwidth. But there aren't many other options in rural areas.