Satellite News

Europe is in a quandary. Over 30 million people cannot get access to broadband, or any worthwhile broadband connection, and yet governments are fully aware that getting citizens online is vital to their economies.

Some nations have gone as far as making broadband access a fundamental right for all citizens. Switzerland did so in 2007, and Finland and Spain have plans to do so in the near future.

Further commitments abound: the UK has promised a 2Mbit/s connection for all by 2015, Spain has set aside €5.1bn to provide 1Mbit/s to all by 2011, and the European Union has launched a drive to provide access for every citizen by 2013.

But the geography of Europe does not make this an easy task. Mountains, valleys, woodlands, vast tracts of wilderness, coupled with the remote locations of millions of people, all make the logistics of rolling out broadband hugely complex.

However, perhaps there is a workable and cost-effective solution in the form of satellite broadband.

As our initial report highlighted, the new KA-SAT under construction at the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company’s (EADS’) manufacturing complex in Toulouse could be key to changing the broadband landscape across Europe.

Satellite technology has been viewed somewhat dubiously as a viable means of providing broadband, but that could change if the claims of KA-SAT owner Eutelsat are accurate.

Eutelsat has stated that it will offer throughput of 70Gbit/s, almost 35 times more than traditional KU-band satellites, and deliver broadband speeds of 10Mbit/s downlink, and between 2Mbit/s and 4Mbit/s uplink, to homes and businesses alike.

“From Portugal to Turkey, and Iceland to the tip of Africa, the KA-SAT will be able to provide broadband to over one million new customers,” said Guillaume Benoit, project manager at KA-SAT, at an event in Toulouse last week.

Final preparations are still being carried out on the satellite, but it is expected to launch later this year from a dedicated launching facility at Baikonur in Kazakhstan.

Eutelsat, european satellite operator has released its latest full year results and revealed that its new KA-SAT Satellite, which will offer download speeds of up to 10Mbps and should become part of their Tooway consumer broadband service in the EU and UK, is officially set to be launched in November this year.

Incidentally Avanti was recently forced to delay its competing 8Mbps HYLAS 1 Satellite launch by six weeks (here). It had originally been due to enter orbit in September 2010, but the new timescale would put HYLAS 1 right alongside its arch rival Eutelsat.

The existing Eutelsat Tooway service can be purchased through several UK Satellite ISPs (e.g. Tariam Homenet), which offers download speeds of up to 3.6Mbps, uploads of up to 0.38Mbps (384Kbps) and a 2.4GB monthly usage allowance for around £30-£35 per month. However the connection fee and hardware tends to cost around £500.

Both Avanti’s and Eutelsat’s service could be used to help plug the holes in rural broadband coverage around the UK, thus making it easier for the government to meet its 2Mbps Universal Service Commitment (USC) by 2015. However they are expensive and high latency often makes internet voice and fast paced multiplayer gaming services unusable. Likewise the usage allowances often leave much to be desired.

If you live in a broadband not-spot within the European Union, the Middle East or Africa, you may soon be able to get a broadband connection where traditional means such as cable, have failed. How? By satellite of course!

A new satellite, due to be launched November 2010, has been developed by Eutelsat. The KA-SAT uses spot beam technology to provide broadband coverage to regions that are hard to reach and difficult to connect. Offering speeds of up to10 Mbps, satellite broadband may well be the wave of the future