Broadband - Coming To A Car Near You!Broadband - Coming To A Car Near You!

RaySat Inc., a Virginia company using satellite technology to supply broadband to moving vehicles, has landed $27 million in venture capital. The hard cash infusion may propel the company's goal of providing television and Internet broadband reception for cars.

The firm has already been successful in installing its phased-array antennas on European trains for TV and Internet access. In addition, it has installed its antennas " about five inches high by 32 inches in diameter " on SUVs, RV, trucks and other larger vehicles.

"RaySat is working on developing a smaller antenna," a company spokesman said. "The company is working to shrink the size of the antenna so it could fit on a sedan." The company has been talking with major auto manufacturers, which have been seeking ways to improve in-motion communications. A communications system, for instance, that would tell drivers and car manufacturers that spark plugs need to be changed would be invaluable.

Samer Salameh, RaySat's president and CEO, recently said in a newspaper interview that the firm has been working with automaters to downsize the antenna so it would fit comfortably in sedans. The hope is that the smaller antennas would be fitted to new cars during the manufacturing process.

"Within a year or two, (the antenna) will become small enough and cheap enough to fit on any car," Salameh told the Washington Post. "Eventually (it) will disappear into the roof of the car itself."

RaySat is building on its EagleRay antenna used in European trains for broadband Internet connections. Several weeks ago, the firm unveiled its SpeedRay 3000 in the U.S. The satellite antenna can turn any vehicle into a rolling Wi-Fi hot spot, enabling users to surf the web and use e-mail. RaySat said the antenna enables Web download speeds of up to 2 mbps and upload speeds up to 128 kbps. And, hundreds of digital satellite TV and music channels are available.

Phased-array antenna technology is RaySat's chief stock-in-trade. The SpeedRay, for instance, utilizes GPS-tracking with its antennas. The antenna's panels move up and down and sideways to accommodate vehicle motion to keep contact with incoming signals.

The Wi-Fi transceiver, built into the antenna dish housing, supports 802.11 b and g. RaySat is betting that it can provide national satellite coverage that reaches areas unreachable by other technologies. The firm said the SpeedRay will be available in the fourth quarter.

The $27 million financing, is led by Apax Partners, whose venture partner Pinchas Buchris said a key reason RayStat was attractive as an investment vehicle is that the firm is targeting an untapped market. Earlier, the firm received $10 million in its first receipt of venture financing.