Minneapolis City has chosen Dish Network as the preferred satellite internet service provider for residents and establishments in the city. Dish has been awarded a 10-year, $10 million contract from the Minneapolis City Council where satellite dishes will be placed on various buildings and infrastructures in the city to support the DISH NETWORK PACKAGES high-speed internet service, which will be provided to residents who are not well covered by broadband internet service providers.
Providing Equal Opportunities for the Less Connected Zones
One of the primary reasons for Minneapolis to take such a move was to offer consumers a wider choice and affordable broadband in the parts of the city that have been poorly served with wired broadband internet. Downtown and other affluent areas already have cable or fiber internet, but large parts of North and Northeast Minneapolis have fewer options and slower DSL speeds.
The satellite-based DishNet service will now offer up to 30Mbps across the whole of the city. Every neighborhood will benefit from another competitor offering fast internet services. DishNet will also ensure that there is no more bias as it closes the digital divide gap.
Improving Internet Resiliency
The satellite connectivity will also help to improve the Internet connectivity in Minneapolis during disasters. Previous major winter storms and flooded conditions have taken out wired broadband service in the past across the Upper Midwest. Since DishNet uses satellite connections that are placed in space avoiding underground wires, it may be the only reliable backup connectivity during severe weather when other networks are disrupted.
This technology will ensure that residents receive important information for public safety, work and school from home, and for various city infrastructure requirements. With the involvement of DishNet in the project, the overall internet resiliency will be significantly enhanced by the existence of a redundant system.
Affordable Price Point
Although city officials did not reveal the exact pricing model agreed on with DishNet, they assured that the service prices will be reasonable – even for low-income citizens. It also might fit into the present federal programs that provide support and cover the costs of Internet connection for some families and individuals. Thus, the broadband will be cheaper since through Dish’s satellite backbone, one will not need to re-establish expensive fiber or cable links in particular neighborhoods.
The low-cost satellite internet pricing structure and the federal subsidies will enable internet access. Regarding the rollout of DishNet, theCity’s goal is to attain an average of 85 percent household Internet access rate.
DishNet Service Details
The DishNet internet service provides download speeds of up to 30 Mbps in Minneapolis through satellite technology of the next generation. Latency should roughly be at an average of 500-700 milliseconds due to physics constraints with satellite distance. Compared to cable and fiber internet, latency is high, however, DishNet offers sufficient bandwidth and throughput for home usage of bandwidth-sensitive applications such as video-conferencing, video streaming, social networking, web browsing, and much more.
The two-way satellite terminals are located on rooftops while the users connect their devices to an indoor WiFi router. The network is fully meshed to make it very redundant. The structural improvements placed in public buildings belong to the city of Minneapolis, although DishTechnicians is responsible for the installation of those improvements The satellites and the cloud constructions are owned and operated by Dish. The installations throughout the city’s 140 square miles will commence at once and will go on until 2025 depending on area classification.
Looking Ahead
Other major metro areas such as Detroit and San Francisco are also exploring satellite internet as part of their digital equity and redundancy plans. With Dish Network as a citywide satellite provider, Minneapolis is among the progressive cities using solutions such as LEO satellites to serve marginalized communities and as a backup network. Providing an affordable fishnet service contributes to the development of an equitable and inclusive digital environment in Minneapolis and more opportunities for all residents no matter their income status or location.
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