For Ka‐band satellite systems to compete successfully in the broadband marketplace, two fundamental challenges must be addressed: cost, and the quality and performance of the offered services/applications. Specific issues related to these challenges are discussed and a set of solutions is proposed. The solutions range from the development of common standards to specific techniques to mitigate the effect of rain fades in Ka‐band frequencies and the propagation delay of the geosynchronous satellite. Finally, dynamic resource allocation and congestion control techniques are described which exploit the key characteristics of Ka‐band satellite systems and maximize the availability of satellite capacity to user applications.