1. Avanti will shortly be launching its new HYLAS 1 satellite into orbit around the earth, which could help to solve the UK’s rural broadband speed and connectivity divide. Can you tell us a little about the launch process and what makes the satellite itself so special?

AVANTI: HYLAS uses Ka-Band, which is a higher frequency than current European satellites.  The technology gives us several advantages:

• It produces 8 “spot beams” (approximately country size), rather than the one large beam (which would cover Europe) in current (Ku-Band) satellites.  This allows us to re-use frequencies making the satellite more efficient.
• It has much higher power than existing European satellites.
• It is a relatively small satellite (350,000 end users), which makes launch costs much lower.

Ka-Band is used in the USA by Wild Blue, which has over 1 million customers.

2. When is the new HYLAS satellite expected to launch and how long after that will it be before the actual services begin?

AVANTI: We are expecting it to launch at the end of 2009, however, this will depend on testing pre-launch (we can’t fix problems once it is in space).

3. Which UK ISPs will be tasked with distributing the HYLAS based broadband satellite packages or will it only be offered directly via your own outlet/website?

AVANTI: We currently have partners that are satellite internet specialists in the UK they include:

• Bluestar
• Broadband Wherever
• Coview Solutions
• Dawson
• Equinox
• KBR IT
• Network Flow
• Prime Satcom
• Remote Data Services
• Wizard WiFi
• World Wide Comms

 We are always looking for new partners and would welcome offering the service through the major ISPs

4. What kind of benefits will your forthcoming HYLAS 1 satellite be able to deliver that make it a better choice than other rural broadband technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Mobile Broadband and rival satellite ISPs?

AVANTI: Fundamentally it is speed and reach.  Providing a customer’s antenna can see the satellite (very occasionally the view can be blocked by trees or mountains) we can deliver consistent service up to 4Mbps (8Mbps once Hylas is in service).  Our experience in Scotland (the Broadband Reach project) has shown us that mobile broadband services are highly variable, WiFi is almost exclusively used in urban areas (although we have provided connectivity for remote WiFi hot spots in other parts of Europe – e.g. service stations). 

We offer a higher GB throughput rate than other satellite providers and a better range of download/upload speeds at a comparable cost.