Broadband Wherever, a little known Satellite ISP, has today become the first UK operator to announce its launch of a new 10Mbps service for rural homes and businesses (Tooway10mb). The new packages are powered by Eutelsat's latest KA-SAT spacecraft, which launched at the end of last year (here).

The Tooway10mb service, which is a direct competitor to Avanti's new and almost equally capable HYLAS 1 satellite, will be introducing several new broadband package speeds of 6Mb, 8Mb and 10Mb (Megabits per second).

Curiously the ISP claims that it will have "the fastest satellite broadband in the UK" when the packages officially become available from May 2011, which is despite Avanti also offering a top speed of 10Mbps.


So what about cost? Prices for Tooway10mb will be similar to the current 3.6Mbps (2.4GB usage allowance) service, which start from a basic price of £25 per month. A new basic service will now start at 6Mbps, complete with a monthly data allowance of up to 4GB.

A top service of 10Mbps with a data allowance of 25GB (probably costing around £115 or more) will also be available. With an alignment tool built into the new system, there is also potential for a self-install for the customer, which will help drive the initial set up costs down even further. The modem is also plug-and-play, helping to simplify the installation.

The usage allowances may still be quite meagre in comparison to fixed line solutions and no satellite can ever completely solve the latency problems that are inherent with sticking a spacecraft miles above the Earth's surface. However, it's still an excellent stop-gap solution and the new pricing looks set to give Avanti a run for its money.

Meanwhile Avanti is supposed to be launching its first 10Mbps services any day now, although we've yet to see how their packages will compare. So far the operator has only hinted at a price point starting at £25 per month, although this was for a meagre 2Mbps connection. Usage allowances remain unknown.

UPDATE 10:29am

The ISP has also sent along a story about a businessman who runs his specialist chimney refurbishment business from home in West Carmarthen and has had his business transformed after getting a faster broadband connection via satellite.

Keith Mitchell lives in a ‘Notspot’ at his home in Dyfed, an area where he is unable to get a broadband connection through a land line and can only get a very poor one using Mobile Broadband connectivity.


Sadly the Welsh broadband support scheme is not available outside of Wales, which could make it harder to adopt for those who live in Scotland, England and N.Ireland.