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To: rudedog who wrote (58052)	4/15/1999 1:55:00 PM
From: rupert1	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 97611

rudedog: John Koligman corrected my impression when I mentioned it the other day. But I wonder whether my mis-impression was so wide of the mark. My mind-set arose from listening to an hour-long interview with Bill Gates last week. He was very enthusiastic about digital and the use of satellites, saw it as the next big thing for rural America - not to mention rural areas all over the world. He thought it would support a back to the country movement. If people could get fast reliable, broad, satellite links, why would they want to live, work in a city. He has also said for years that the internet in Europe needs a major new arrangement with the telephone companies. The cost is prohibitive for the normal person. I cannot see why it will not be possible for a SKY TV, for example, to include an internet band to its existing bands. The highest monthly fee for SKY TV if you take its big package is $35 and you can then select programmes on a pay-for-view basis using your handset or the telephone. Why cannot SKY provide the wiring from the decoder to your computer, thereby cutting out the phone connections. In the UK, SKY TV will install a digital satellite, proved a decoder and a handset. The charge for the digital set is higher than for the analogue set. I think it is about $275 for the digital and $150 for the analogue. The digital requies a satellite about half the size and much betetr looking, in that it is a mesh rather than a solid dish. These screw unto the side of houses, appartments and so on. They are installed by SKY contractors. SKY offers a reduced price for the digtal of about $165 if you agree to accept a phone line running from the decoder and if you agree to keep it for a year. Apparently, the idea is that they want to be able to download to your phone, advertisments, and interactive stuff but they have never done it in my case. But perhaps this is a dummy run for a phone-less internet connection. I'm sure an extra fee to SKY for unlimited internet use would be a lot cheaper than the current telephone arrangement. Rupert Murdoch, the owner of SKY, made a famous speech about nine months ago saying he was not going to run after the internet. But times change. His newspapers in the UK and especially The SUN, which sells 4 million copies a day, are offering free internet access to everyone through their own IP which is called CurrantBUN.com. The rival group, The Mirror are starting up ic24.com and will be launched at the end of April. COMPAQ and MSFT are involved. I may be missing the technologiccal nexus points here, but the main point I am making is that satellite internet would make a huge difference in Europe and a good part of the world if it means reducing the cost of connecting, it would also mean an extrapolation of current growth trends.