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WILL THE NEXT INTERNET A discussion with Mark Dankberg Publisher's Note: One of the greatest transformations of this young century is the sudden emergence of plans (and, already, achievements) for tens of thousands of CubeSats in low Earth orbit around the planet. Almost overnight, SpaceX has begun this new program, with a current internal target that moved from 10,000 to 12,000 to 40-something-thousand --- Some competitors are already crying "Uncle," while others continue to ramp up their own plans. With China and the EU launching their own GPS systems, and the US DoD doing the same for its next-gen constellation - clearly, the skies are going to be forever changed. Astronomers hate it, binge-watchers will love it, and most people have not begun to imagine the real changes in communications and business models that these systems will bring. In this week's transcript, SNS members will have a chance, probably for the first time, to get the best look into both the technical and financial aspects of this coming Contest of the Titans. Will they control all forms of communication, worldwide, replacing every telecom carrier overnight? Will everyone on the planet get the same net feed at a reasonable cost? Who will own the airwaves then, and who will rule the --- well, you get the picture. Mark Dankberg is perhaps the best-qualified mentor to guide us all through this labyrinth of beam-forming antennas, latency, bandwidth, and net present values for satellites of all sizes. If you think that this quiet revolution in everything wireless is not going to affect you and/or your business directly, then you should definitely not read this issue. OK, both of you, stand in the corner. For the rest of us, it's onward, and happy reading. - mra
Mark Dankberg, Chair and CEO, Viasat With host Mark Anderson, Chair, Future in Review FiRe 2019 Conference Friday, October 11, 2019 - The Lodge at Torrey Pines - La Jolla, California Photos © 2019 Kris Krug This conversation has been lightly edited.
Mark Anderson: Good to see you; thanks for being here. Mark Dankberg: Sure, thanks for the invitation. MA: You're welcome. We've been having quite a bit of fun, in lots of different ways. All technical, basically, except for last night, and the night before. [Laughter] I'm going to start by saying Viasat has been around a long time. You're the founder, chairman, CEO ... But I'm going to confess that I didn't know very much about it, and it's my fault; it's a big company. If you're a San Diegan - you came out of Linkabit, right? And so - MD: Qualcomm. [Pub. Note: Qualcomm came from Linkabit.] MA: Qualcomm - so there are two big companies now, I think, in town. And you're one. It's great to have you here. | ||||||||
