UK Broadband Satellite ISP Tooway Direct Becomes EuropaSat

Satellite ISP Tooway Direct UK, which is part of the UK based Satellite Solutions Worldwide group, appears to have re-branded once again to become EuropaSat. But unlike before the “new” ISP has ended its exclusive arrangement with Eutelsat (KA-SAT) and now also sells broadband options supplied by SES (ASTRA) and Avanti (HYLAS).

We spotted the surprising development, which appears to have occurred at the end of last month, by accident this morning. In theory the move means that EuropaSat (we can’t seem to read that name without thinking of different words) should be able to offer more choice through a wider selection of broadband satellite packages from all of the major operators.

However the result could risk causing confusion as each platform has its own unique differences, such as different dish sized, alignment, usage flexibility, terms and modem requirements. EuropaSat also seems to be charging £10 more a month for Eutelsat’s entry-level 20Mbps package than some of the other KA-SAT / Tooway based ISPs (largely due to special discounts), although their SES and Avanti solutions seem to have better pricing.

Andrew Walwyn, EuropaSat’s Managing Director, said:

“We’ve been planning to launch a new independent satellite brand since late in 2012 when we could see that a number of new options and networks were coming on-line in 2013.

Whilst much of our success has been as a result of our special relationship with Tooway and Eutelsat which of course continues, we felt we needed to open the market up to other customers. People who wanted to deal with us, but for various reasons weren’t a good fit for the Tooway product portfolio.

The new brand is another step forward in our mission to ensure that wherever you are in Europe, you won’t be excluded from fast broadband and the quality of life that it can deliver.”

For the sake of a rough comparison, EuropaSat’s entry-level 20Mbps solution (10GB usage allowance) from Eutelsat costs £34.95 per month plus a £99.99 setup fee and £29.95 connection fee (we’ll leave out the hardware / install costs for now as that area is always confusing).

The closest comparison on their SES packages would be the 20Mbps service (10GB usage allowance) for £32.95 per month plus the same setup and connection fee. By contrast their nearest Avanti solution offers 8Mbps speeds (10GB usage allowance) for £39.99 per month but its connection fee is £35.70.

The rest of the costs are in hardware and installation that can run up to around £500 (depending upon your choices). Each satellite solution also has different terms and usage flexibility allowances, some of which include unlimited off-peak usage (specific packages) etc.