With broadband stimulus funding still in limbo, other industry sectors are seeking out ways to improve telecommunications by divulging into other venues, as well as broadband. And, in the current economic recession, every new project idea or suggestion helps.

Skycasters’ American Recovery and Reinvestment Act expert Gordon Landefeld said recently that there is a new road that the telecom industry could travel on as a way to list the U.S. economy out of the recession. 

Landefeld said that Internet access via commercial satellite broadband could lessen the financial burden the United States is currently facing, pulling the economy out of the doldrums, as it would give citizens quick Internet access to education, healthcare and business opportunities. 

“Our commercial grade satellite backhauled WiMAX (News - Alert) solution is fast to install, is recyclable with future technologies and helps sustain local economies through both Internet backup and revenue creation opportunities,” Landefeld said, adding that fiber is the big pipe solution, but it’s also the most expensive solution and takes forever to deploy across plains, over mountains, and even through cities. 

“Satellite backhauled WiMAX gives a community a relatively instant closure to the digital divide,” he added. 

If site approval is received and, most importantly, there are financial means by which to do so, satellite backhauled WiMAX could be deployed within the next 90 days. 

“We pour the concrete, erect the tower, point the dish, install the user modules on houses and businesses, and flip the switch,” Landefeld said. “Residents and businesses get a choice of consumer grade or commercial grade plans.”

And, while consumer grade is less expensive, users receive fewer benefits than with the commercial grade plan. With commercial grade, users get guaranteed minimum bandwidth. 

“So like Skycasters’ normal satellite customers, the residents of unserved or underserved communities can reasonably expect that making a phone call or sending an email will work the first, second and hundredth time,” Landefeld said. 

And, since this broadband stimulus solution is recyclable since the fiber connection can be made directly to the WiMAX tower without having to make fiber connections at every house, this possible scenario can add to the sustainability of an Internet environment that is in limbo stages right now. 

“An economic stimulus means you get help today to create growth tomorrow,” Landefeld said. “You can’t wait five years for that stimulus effect. We need it now.”