Broadband consumer costs in rural Alaska could be cut
Plan for new Alaska telecom satellite; contracts near Alaska-based Pacific Dataport, Inc. is close to final agreements for a plan to launch a geostationary communications satellite positioned to cover all of Alaska. The new satellite could cut consumer costs for broadband Internet in rural communities to the 65 cents-per-gigabyte range, the company hopes, a bargain compared with prices typically in the $2.50-per-gigabyte range for existing consumer internet service using terrestrial-based systems, including fiber-optic. Although the 65 cents price is aimed…