Have you seen Earthlink's recent announcement about its new bi-directional satellite Internet access service -- uniquely dubbed "EarthLink Satellite Powered by DirecPC"? Catchy, isn't it? Unfortunately, it isn't likely to catch on at all unless they fix one simple little issue: pricing.

The monthly fee is actually pretty reasonable -- just under $70/month for 400k downstream and 128k upstream -- a price that sounds especially good to me since I can't get DSL or cable-modem service in my area (for that matter, I can't even get dial-up at anything higher than 19.2K bit/sec).

The deal killer, however, is the upfront equipment and installation charge: $900.

That's right: $900 that you'll never see again. Maybe I shouldn't complain -- I just paid about that much for a dual-dish HDTV setup (worth every penny to see Tony Soprano slap some guy around in high-definition every Sunday night). But it just seems so outrageous for Internet access, since I know full well that the price of this gear will drop like a stone over the next 12 months as the number of installed units increases. Plus, imagine your local cable or phone company trying to charge that much for broadband installation -- heck, most of them are giving away their modems.

Now, Earthlink is offering the first three months free (wow, save a whole $210...) to the first 500 customers. Given that I need high-speed Internet access (I'm basically on a horse farm in the middle of nowhere), do I buy the service now (hoping that I'm one of the "lucky" 500 and essentially cut the up-front cost to $690) or do I wait a year for the upfront costs to naturally fall below the $500 mark?

It becomes one of those chicken-and-egg (or maybe Catch-22) problems: The prices will fall dramatically if a lot of people sign up, but how do they get a lot of people to sign up at initial prices like that?

Arrgh! Since I really, really need this stuff, and there are no local alternatives, I'll probably pitch in to fund Earthlink's expansion plans. Yes, yes, it means I'll be one of those people you'll snicker about in a few years, just like the time I bought a Beta VCR (oh, yeah, and the time I bought a Sony MiniDisc system). But when you sign up for satellite 'Net access next year, please send me some e-thanks for being an early adopter and helping cut your price.

» posted by ITworld staff

Network World

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