A satellite user in Oz
I use satellite here in Aus. for my internet.
The comments above are quite correct, it is expensive, it is slow and it is laggy.
I am using the IPstar satellite with the old Aus. Broadband Guarantee setup.
Tomorrow I get a new system from NBN. It will still be over IPstar but will be 1M up and 6M down, the latency from all reports is around 600ms, somewhat better than the 1000+ ms I get now.
For the same money as I pay now I get an extra 2g per month of download capacity.
My other choice for internet is dialup.
Once the new satellites are launched we can expect 2 up and 12 down speed initially with increases later (to what I don't know), it is also expected that data charges will reduce considerably so that instead of the current 8g per month max we will be able to afford somewhat more. Currently I have a total of 6g available to me each month unless I buy more data capacity which is horrnedously expensive.
What people fail to realise is that NBN is funded from loans, during its life it is expected that NBN will repay those loans whilst at the same time cross subsidise the lossy satellite service with the proceeds from the wireless and fibre services it will offer.
If all of this comes to pass, the satellite service will not become a drain on the taxpayer, it will be subsidised by other users buying different services which will be competitively priced with existing ADSL products.
I understand people being cynical about all of this, it is headed up by governement after all. But, if all comes true, it'll be pretty bloody good. If the politicos interfere in an attempt to make it better, it will become an expensive and major cock up.