Posted: 18th Oct, 2010 By: MarkJ
UK Satellite ISP Avanti Communications has revealed that the first of its next generation broadband satellites (
HYLAS 1), which will offer download speeds of up to 8Mbps to everybody in the country from around £25 per month (
details), will officially launch in to Earth orbit (space) on
25th November 2010.
The HYLAS 1 satellite has already safely arrived at its launch site - the
European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana. On site preparations for launch upon an
Ariane 5 rocket have now commenced. Avanti's second satellite, called
HYLAS 2, is also fully funded and will launch in Q2 2012.
Sadly we won't find out how Avanti intends to structure its packages, and what usage allowances/flexibility will be available, until the first services go live during the first quarter of next year. However Avanti will have some competition.
Rival Eutelsat, which also plans to launch a faster 10Mbps
KA-SAT satellite (Tooway) before the end of this year (
more details), is hoping to fend of Avanti in the UK market. Eutelsat currently helps several UK ISPs to offer 'up to' 3.6Mbps capable services from around £25-£35 per month, albeit with a measly 2.4GB usage allowance.
In addition another Satellite operator,
Astra (ASTRA2Connect), also works with UK ISP
BeyonDSL to offer download speeds of up to 4Mbps (0.25Mbps uploads) from just £29.99 inc. VAT per month.
UPDATE 19th October 2010Avanti just announced that it has signed contracts with two new partners for the sale of broadband services to be delivered via HYLAS 1.
InTouch Systems and
DSL Telecom are established UK IT and Communications companies serving regional markets in which rural connectivity for homes and businesses plays an increasingly important part.