but it illustrates the raw capacity is already there.
No, it really doesn't.
Do you buy an A380 and the leave it on the tarmac and just shout to the world that you've got capacity 400 people ?
No.
Well its the same with satellites.
Satellites cost a lot of money to build, get into space and monitor.
A satellite is in use 24 hours a day, 365 days a year as soon as the satellite reaches space, the operators will already be activating contracts ..... the cost of using satellite transmissions reflects the limited spare capacity available.
A satellite may well have a total transmission capability of X, but you can bet your bottom dollar that most of that capacity has been sold, if not even largely oversold on a contended basis ! The satellite operators would be out of business if that was not the case.
Satellite has always been and will always be more expensive than any form of ground communication, because of all the constraints the technology has, including the technology itself.... once its up there, you can't exactly turn up on site one day and upgrade the kit to newer stuff !
So please guys... ENOUGH of these stupid requests for realtime streaming data from all aircraft .... it just isn't workable. Period.