Irish Broadband Blackspots Solved

Eutelsat KA-SAT Comes in to Operation to Offer Broadband Experiences in European Rural Areas and 'Not Spots'

 

 

Irish consumers living in areas that are not served by fixed line broadband, are now able to take advantage of the new Eutelsat Communications Tooway^TM broadband which is made possible by KA-SAT, the multi-million euro High Throughput satellite which, after six months extensive testing since launching into Orbit in December 2010, has entered into commercial operation today.

 

 

The satellite will solve the dial-up problem for upto one-million of the estimated thirty-million residential properties in broadband blackspots across Europe, and according to Kevin Ryan, co-founder and CEO of Onwave, one of two distribution partners for Tooway in Ireland and partner of the 3 Ireland National Broadband scheme, there are approximately 223,000 Irish residential properties that are unable to receive DSL type connectivity, due to location.

 

 

Eutelsat's high-capacity all Ka-band system, combining satellite and on-ground infrastructure, opens a new chapter in the market for satellite-based IP services. As a powerful new platform for delivering high-bandwidth services to users beyond range of terrestrial networks, it can deliver cost-effective and competitive solutions that contribute to building inclusive digital economies across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

 

 

There are eight gateways across the region, including the National Space Centre in Midleton, Co. Cork, which formerly pushed voice traffic to and from the North American continent. Each gateway is connected by fibre to Eutelsat's operation centre in Turin, Italy, and collectively serve more than 70 Gbps to eighty two spotbeams. This configuration enables frequencies to be reused 20 times. The ground network uses ViaSat's SurfBeam® 2 technology, an advanced version of the technology already powering broadband connectivity for 500,000 satellite homes in North America. The combination of KA-SAT's exceptional capacity and SurfBeam® 2 will make it possible to deliver Internet connectivity at speeds comparable to ADSL for more than one million homes in rural areas and 'Not Spots' in Europe and large parts of the Mediterranean Basin.

 

 

Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat CEO, commented on the entry into service: "The entry into service of KA-SAT, the world's most powerful spotbeam satellite, turns a new page in affordable and immediately available IP solutions, and places Europe at the forefront of high-capacity satellite technologies that can serve to quickly close the broadband gap. We look forward to working with our service and technology partners to unleash the huge potential of this new pan-European wireless infrastructure."

 

 

From today, up to 10 Mbps is immediately available for consumers irrespective of location, in packages from

6 - 10 Mbps down and 1 - 4 Mbps up respespectively. The Tooway system can also be used for Voice over IP and IPTV.

 

 

 

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Corporate Information

 

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