European satellite broadband gets speed boost

Satellite broadband provider Eutelsat has announced that its consumer packages now offer faster download speeds of 20Mbps, double the speeds available when it launched in summer 2011. Upload speeds have also been increased from 4Mbps to 6Mbps, making it the fastest satellite packages available in Europe, according to Eutelsat.

On top of the speed increases, Eutelsat also now offers an unlimited data service called Tooway Absolute, while those subscribing to its L and XL services will get unlimited overnight downloads, which won’t affect their day-time data allowances.

The packages, offered under its Tooway brand will be available in France, Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK from February and will be rolled-out to other European countries in the coming months. 30 million homes are in the footprint of Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite and the company markets itself as an alternative internet provider for those locations where it is difficult to reach via conventional ADSL, cable and fibre lines.

“These new Tooway packages are another huge step forward in making universal high speed broadband an immediate reality for Europe. The outlook for consumers in Europe’s most digitally deprived areas just got much brighter.”” said Jean-François Fenech, General Manager of Eutelsat’s Broadband Business Unit in a statement.

With high latencies to content with satellite broadband connections will never really appeal in areas where there are conventional connections, but for those in true internet ‘not-spots’ the service will offer a genuine digital lifeline. The upload speeds are actually faster than that offered by some fixed line operators, and with download speeds now hitting 20Mb/s the service can compete with the standard ADSL packages available in Europe.

Eutelsat also offers a triple-play bundle including TV and VoIP. Eutelsat’s KA-SAT has a total capacity of 90 Gbps, and the service employs an on-ground network of eight main gateways across Europe connected to the internet by a fibre backbone ring.

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