Broadband: The next generation

By Mike Freeman, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
Sunday, May 23, 2010 at 12:02 a.m.

Carlsbad, California -based ViaSat is testing a new 130-gigabit broadband satellite, set to launch early next year, with more bandwidth than all existing satellites providing Internet service combined.

In New York City, Time Warner Cable is deploying a blazing fast 50 megabits per second Internet service using a technology called DOCSIS 3.0. The company, which serves North San Diego County, expects to roll out the service to more markets, including San Diego, in six to nine months.

Sprint’s Clearwire now offers 4G wireless broadband service in 32 cities with peak data speeds of about 10 megabits per second, or 10 times faster than existing 3G wireless networks. Verizon Wireless, using a different technology, plans to unveil an equally fast network later this year.

The next generation of a faster Internet speeds is almost here. As highlighted in the government’s National Broadband Plan in February, high-speed Web access is increasingly being seen as a key piece of infrastructure in a community, much like streets and sewer lines.

Driving this need for speed is the surge in Internet video, social media websites and other high bandwidth applications.

“Four or five years ago, video consumption on the Internet made up less than 10 percent of the traffic,â€