A wide-area Wi-Fi network has been deployed at the Joint Base Balad in Iraq to serve over US military personnel stationed there. It is scheduled to be complete by November 2008. The network operator charges $60 per month for 256Kbps (down) and 128 Kbps (up), and uses satellite as backhaul. At present the network has over 1000 users; it is designed to reach over 20,000. The network uses Aruba Networks access points and has been rolled out by Babylon Telecommunications, a systems integrator, who spent $1 million for the network.
First we make our soldiers pay for their own body armour. Now, we’re charging them $60 / month to write home to their families. Is it just me or isn’t it a shame and pity that companies like Aruba are shameless war profiteers?
Brian,
I was also outraged to read this but I was waiting for one of my readers to point this out. Perhaps the government is so broke after bailing out all those banks that they can’t even cover the cost of body armor and Internet access.
I was curious about this too, but it turns out not to be true.
The original article clearly states that the “soldiers get per diem expenses for all or part of the cost.” Google’d another article that stated that the AAFES organization contracted Babylon to offer subscriber services that AAFES pays on behalf of the soldiers.
So the government is actually covering the cost of Internet access for our soldiers.
Then I read Mr. Johnson’s blog. Turns out he works for one of Aruba’s competitors, Trapeze Networks. He is posting disinformation regarding a couple of companies trying to help our soldiers, with motivation I only have to assume is self-serving. Using his words – shameful.
… joe
So, in other words, Aruba Networks is gouging the US government for $60 / month per soldier for internet access. Okay, so that makes it just a little bit better? It puts Aruba Networks right up there with the likes of Bechtel and Blackwater and all the other companies that are stealing money out of the pockets of us tax payers.
And regarding my affiliation, does that mean I’m wrong? Does that mean I’m not allowed to have an opinion — just like any other citizen — about the safety of our soldiers and the companies who are out to make a fast buck from a war? You can assume all you want to about my motivation, Joe, but until you can see into my heart, you might want to keep your own opinions to yourself. Just remember this: at least I have the guts to put my real name and affiliation to my writing, unlike you, sir.
Mr. Johnson, you are either being purposely thick-headed to make a competitor look bad, or your reading comprehension level borders on that of a 3rd grader. (I have to believe that you didn’t get to where you are in life because you can’t read; therefore, you are being purposely deceitful.) Either way, your idiocy should offend anyone that genuinely cares about such matters. And I’m sure you knew full-well that you weren’t disclosing your clear conflict of interest when you placed your original post.
It’s clear to everyone else in the world that the contractor, Babylon, was hired by the government to provide wifi access at this base. Babylon is charging the soldiers the money. Aruba Networks appears to simply provide the hardware, at what I’m guessing is a one-time purchase.
Your analogy, making it appear as though Aruba Networks is charging this money (as opposed to the true provider, Babylon) is exactly wrong. A true comparison would be the Toshiba cable modem sitting on my desk; they make the hardware, but I don’t pay Toshiba $40 a month for service; I pay my local cable company. (Perhaps you do pay your cable modem manufacturer as well; that’s the only thing I can think of to explain your ludicrous posts.)
Do you pay your television manufacturer every time you watch TV? No, you pay the service provider. Do you pay your cell phone’s manufacturer every time you make a call? No, you pay the service provider.
I checked out Aruba’s web site, as I didn’t really know the company, and they appear to only sell equipment, not services.
** Put up or shut up: If you can point to a single article anywhere that indicates Aruba is receiving the monthly fees from the soldiers, please cite your source, or grow a pair and apologize to Aruba Networks, as well as every single American that works for a company that manufactures equipment for the military. **
Calling the millions of Americans that work in our military support industries “war profiteers” is beyond dishonest; it is crude, amateurish, unprofessional, and outright disgusting.
You, sir, are an ass. (And I’m clearly not in PR… I don’t lie for a living.)
John, Los Angeles
I am currently deployed on Joint Base Balad and we pay a 60$ fee that we DO NOT get reimbursed for. We pay 60/month and out of the year or 15 months we are here… maybe 8 months go with decent internet. Our per diem is for the taxes that were taken from us while over here and for other expenses that we incurred while out here.