I love these types of stories. A reporter asked White House press secretary Robert Gibbs if the White House was considering beaming broadband internet to Iran via satellite  so opposition forces could communicate more freely. That’s one of the most ridiculous things I’ve heard in a while. Lets just wave our magic wand so our satellites start talking to cell phones that are designed to talk to cell towers. Yeah, good idea!

Lets put it this way. Ignoring the fact that satellite and cell phones are different technology, and that the cell phones would need complicated re-programming to talk to a different network, you’re still asking a tiny cell phone to hold a two way link with a satellite orbiting the Earth instead of a cell tower just miles away. Any other crazy ideas would involve smuggling in quite a bit of equipment which would make for easily traceable targets.

In case you were wondering, for a satellite to be in geosynchronous orbit, they have to be about 22,300 miles from the Earth’s surface.

Source: Slashdot Technology Story | Could We Beam Broadband Internet Into Iran?.

 Eric is a software engineer and father of two, who's hobbies include video games, open source software, and just being a geek. Read more from this author