Viasat推出衛星互聯網服務 速度將達每秒百兆

A company that offers consumers Internet service via satellite is introducing unlimited high-speed connections that it says are as speedy as plans from AT&T and Comcast.

近日，美國一家衛星互聯網服務公司稱，該公司即將推出無限高速上網服務，且網速將毫不遜於AT&T和康卡斯特等網絡運營商的服務。

Viasat, the company offering the Internet service, is charging $150 a month for its fastest plan of up to 100 megabits per second. Customers who sign up for a two-year deal won't have to pay for satellite dish installation and related costs.

這家衛星互聯網服務公司名叫Viasat，其最快網速套餐每月收費150美元，網速可達每秒100兆。簽訂兩年合約的用戶無需支付衛星接收器費用等相關成本。

The fastest Internet speeds will also only be available to people living in metropolitan areas as opposed to more rural areas, although existing customers will be able to choose faster Internet services than they currently have.

目前只有居住在都市圈的用戶才能享受到該公司的最高網速服務，居住在較偏僻區域的用戶可能還要等待一段時間，不過現有用戶還是能選擇比現有網速更快的服務。

Viasat's price is higher than the typical Earth-based Internet service provider like Comcast, which charges an "introductory price" of $50 a month for 150 MPS Internet service. However, that price likely increases after the promotional period ends.

與普通的地面互聯網服務提供商相比，Viasat的價格顯然是比較高的。拿康卡斯特公司爲例，該公司每秒150兆的互聯網服務的“建議價格”僅爲每月50美元。不過隨着推廣期的結束，這個價格也很可能會上調。

The company's new satellite Internet service is born from a satellite it sent to space in June.

Viasat的衛星互聯網服務主要基於一顆去年六月發射升空的衛星。

Although it already sells unlimited Internet service, the company claims that its newer ViaSat-2 satellite will boost the speed of its service.

雖然它目前的服務已經不限流量了，不過該公司表示，它最新的Viasat-2衛星還將進一步提高該服務的網速。

But there are tradeoffs to satellite Internet service. For example, customers are more likely to experience latency issues with satellite web services that could cause online video games to stutter or streaming video to suddenly lower in quality to compensate.

不過現階段的衛星互聯網服務也並非十全十美。相比地基服務，衛星互聯網服務更容易出現延遲問題，有可能導致在線視頻播放卡頓，或是畫質突然下降等。

However, Viasat's new, faster Internet service shows that advances in satellite technology are improving the quality of Internet services to Earth from space.

不過Viasat公司這一更新、更快的互聯網服務表明，衛星技術的進步正在改善天基互聯網服務的質量。

That's likely one reason the Elon Musk-led SpaceX is exploring delivering Internet services through satellites.

這很可能也是伊隆·馬斯克的SpaceX公司爲什麼也要通過衛星提供互聯網服務的一個原因。

SpaceX is looking to launch several small satellites into a lower orbit than Viasat in order to cut down on latency errors, with the idea being the closer a satellite is to Earth, the less likely there will be hiccups.

爲了解決延遲問題，SpaceX可能會發射多顆小型衛星，在比Viasat更低的軌道上運行。因爲衛星離地面越近，發生延遲的可能性就越低。

Viasat CEO Mark Dankberg believes that it's unlikely that the kinds of smaller satellites that companies like SpaceX or rival OneWeb are looking to deploy in low orbit will be able to offer Internet speeds that are as fast as the bigger satellites in higher orbit.

Viasat公司的CEO馬克·丹克伯格則認爲，SpaceX或OneWeb等競爭公司發射的小型低軌衛星的網速不太可能趕上較高軌道上的大型衛星。

"It's not obvious having lots of small satellites is better than having a big satellite," he said. "Ultimately, time will tell which one delivers the best."

他表示：“多個小型衛星是否一定好於單個大型衛星，現在還說不準。最終，時間會證明哪種方法的效果最好。”

Viasat originally signed a contract with SpaceX to launch its ViaSat 2 satellite into space via SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. But because SpaceX delayed the rocket's launch, Viasat ended up sending the satellite aloft with the help of Arianespace.

Viasat公司原本已與SpaceX簽訂了衛星發射合同，計劃利用後者的“獵鷹”重型火箭發射它的ViaSat 2衛星。不過由於SpaceX推遲了發射日程，Viasat最終選擇了雅利安太空公司幫助其發射衛星。

Asked about Viasat's contract with SpaceX, Dankberg said "we're still evaluating" it and that the company has not made any decisions about future satellite launches.

在問到與SpaceX公司的合同時，丹克伯格表示：“我們還在進行評估。”並表示該公司對未來的衛星發射尚未做出任何決定。

SpaceX's decision to possibly create a satellite Internet service shows that the company is expanding its business beyond simply launching other company's cargo into space.

SpaceX或將建立衛星互聯網服務的決定，表明該公司已經不再滿足於僅僅將其他公司的貨物運到太空。

Of course, this may create more tenuous relationships between SpaceX and its customers, which Dankberg acknowledged.

當然，此舉也將造成SpaceX與其客戶公司的關係趨於緊張，丹克伯格也坦然承認了這一點。

"I think that's a fair observation," Dankberg said.

丹克伯格說道：“我認爲這個觀察是準確的。”