TRW filed a license application with the U.S. Federal Communications Commission on September 4, for a new global satellite system capable of simultaneously transmitting and receiving more digital data than all the undersea fiber-optic cables in place today.
The TRW global EHF satellite network will provide fixed satellite
services worldwide in portions of the extremely high frequencies
(EHF) spectrum between 37.5 gigahertz (GHz) and 50.2 GHz. It will
complement fiber-optic systems, providing high-rate trunks between
regions and continents for broadband data transport, multimedia
services and private networks.
Corporate and other wideband service users will access the
satellite network from compact terminals with roof-mounted antennas.
The TRW network is designed to meet the telecommunications
industry's growing demand for ever-higher data rate services. TRW's
EHF satellite network will provide data rates as high as 3 billion
bits per second (3 Gbps) and as low as T1 rates — 1.5 million bits
per second (1.5 Mbps).
Market analysts predict a $810 billion market for T1 equivalent
circuits by the year 2005. Development of next-generation Internet
service — 100 times faster — will drive demand for bandwidth even
higher.
With its total system capacity of greater than a terabit (1 trillion data bits per second), the network will serve as a wholesale provider of high-data-rate circuits to telecommunications carriers, large private network operators, and governments who need low-cost, high-availability, short-delay broadband communications.
