An Ariane 5 rocket launched from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana, successfully launched WildBlue-1 into orbit. WildBlue-1 will allow satellite Internet service provider WildBlue to serve more than 750,000 rural customers when it is operational sometime in March 2007 at 111.1 degrees west longitude. WildBlue currently serves over 100,000 customers in the contiguous United States from Anik F2. Both satellites use Ka-band spot beams and provide two-way high speed Internet service. Its "Pro Pak" service provides transfer speeds up to 1.5 Mbps downlink and 256 Kbps uplink.
While it may appear this could be a way for news crews to access the Internet and feed stories from remote locations inside the U.S., WildBlue does not currently offer service to mobile/portable uplinks.
