Ka-Sat wins first order
March 14, 2011
From Chris Forrester in Washington
Eutelsat used the opening day of Washington Satellite 2011 to confirm a three-year order for capacity on its giant Ka-Sat craft. The deal is with Germany’s Sat Internet Services which has contracted for three-years of capacity on the satellite for Eutelsat’s Tooway broadband-by-satellite product.
Eutelsat says there is a significant market opportunity for satellite broadband in Germany: “according to figures published by industry analysts of TÜV Rheinland at this month’s CeBIT convention, approximately 770 000 German homes have no broadband access. Up to a further four million homes are constrained by a 2 Mbps service.”
Commenting on the selection of Tooway, Dr. Victor Kühne, Managing Director of Sat Internet Services said: “Leading German telecom operators with universal service obligations regard Tooway as an ideal complementary solution for delivering broadband Internet in any location. Our objective is to operate Tooway for large operators under a white label, alleviating the need for them to deploy a structure to support a satellite-based system for users in often remote locations. This positioning makes Sat Internet Services an ideal partner for operators looking for complementary solutions.” Sat internet Services also successfully opened its web shop activity at CeBIT, with customers taking the opportunity to order the new Tooway service to be available through KA-SAT.
Arduino Patacchini, CEO of Skylogic added: “We are delighted to strike this new relationship with Sat Internet Services. Despite the roll-out of high-speed terrestrial broadband infrastructure, Germany faces the same challenge as other European countries to build an inclusive digital economy for all users and enterprises. We are convinced that the performance of Tooway through KA-SAT empowers satellite broadband to contribute to achieving this goal.”
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