After a week of delays, Japan launched a new, experimental internet satellite on Feb. 23 that shows why that country is still so much farther ahead than the United States in terms of bandwidth, Wired reports. The "Kizuna" satellite is designed to give extremely high internet speeds to rural and other areas that have been left off the country’s already high-speed grid. According to the project’s web site, ordinary home users will ultimately be able to get internet download speeds of 155 megabits per second (Mbps), with upload speeds of 6 Mbps. Businesses and other organizations using a larger receiver dish will be able to get connections of 1.2 gigabits per second. Japanese officials say the technology will enable anyone to receive sophisticated medical treatment regardless of time and location by transmitting clear images of their conditions to a doctor in an urban area–and in academic fields, schools and researchers in remote areas will be able to exchange information easily…

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