London, UK, 25 March 2010: Eutelsat Communications welcomes the launch of the UK Space Agency and the Government’s recognition of the role satellite broadband could play in bridging the digital divide for UK rural areas.
Michel de Rosen, Eutelsat’s Chief Executive Officer commented on the new agency: “The UK has played a significant role in the international space industry, and we welcome this new impetus, which continues a longstanding British tradition of fostering an environment of innovation and pushing back the boundaries of technical possibilities. The UK was an early adopter of satellite-based communications and it was the British space industry that drove the construction of Europe’s first telecommunications satellites, operated by Eutelsat from the 1980s. Today, satellites have transformed the television experience and are poised to make an essential and we believe still underestimated contribution towards achieving a digitally-inclusive broadband society across the UK.”
Publishing the Government Response to the UK Space Innovation and Growth Strategy, Lord Drayson recommended developing Space-enabled services as a complementary infrastructure to fibre-optic and wireless superfast broadband. The Government has recommended funding a study, jointly resourced with industry, to set out how Space-enabled services could help deliver Next Generation Broadband to rural communities.
“Eutelsat’s satellite broadband service Tooway™ has been providing a 3.6 Mbps Internet connection to UK rural customers for almost a year and we would be delighted to share our experiences as part of the study,” said Michel de Rosen “The UK has also been integral in the development of our revolutionary broadband satellite, which will be launched in the coming months and offer up to 10 Mbps services to the UK.”
Eutelsat last week announced the successful completion of the UK-built communications module for its ground-breaking high-speed broadband communications satellite, KA-SAT. The communications module – the heart of the satellite, designed to receive and transmit broadband services to and from Internet users – has now been transferred from Astrium’s high-tech manufacturing facilities in Portsmouth to Toulouse, France, and integrated with the satellite’s service module for testing before its scheduled launch at the end of 2010. The completion of this module brings the prospect of high-speed 10Mbps broadband access one step closer for the UK’s rural communities.
Today, Tooway™ is already serving customers in more than 25 European countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Ireland and Greece, with other countries across Europe rolling out over the coming months. Eutelsat is a leading European satellite operator with 26 satellites providing a footprint of more than 150 countries, and reaching 90% of the global population.
Ends
About Eutelsat Communications
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code: FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity commercialised on 26 satellites that provide coverage over the entire European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 31 December 2009, Eutelsat’s satellites were broadcasting more than 3,400 television channels and close to 1,100 radio stations. More than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD™ video neighbourhood at 13 degrees East which serves over 123 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa. The Group’s satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary, Skylogic, markets and operates services through teleports in France and Italy that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ 635 employees from 27 countries.
www.eutelsat.com
For further information or photos, please contact:
Paul Smith
Email: Psmith@rscassociates.net
Tel: +44 (0) 7770 828525