UPDATE BT in 2Mbps USC Broadband Deal with Satellite Solutions Worldwide

Reports suggest that BT will today sign a new deal with Satellite Solutions Worldwide (SSW), which could potentially help them to sell affordable broadband to remote rural homes and businesses that suffer from slow Internet connections.

Last September BT’s CEO, Gavin Patterson, promised to “introduce a Satellite broadband service for some of the UK’s more remote premises by the end of the year” (here). Shortly after that the telecoms giant also signed wholesale supply deal with UK Satellite (HYLAS) operator Avanti (here), which was done in support of the Government’s new Satellite subsidy scheme.

The new scheme was setup to help 300,000 of the most remote rural premises to get a better connection and to act as a quick-fix way for the Broadband Delivery UK programme to achieve its flaky 2Mbps for all Universal Service Commitment (USC). Sadly Satellite connectivity can often be a bit naff and expensive, even after the subsidy has been consumed (here).

But so far we have not seen BT launch a Satellite package of its own, although a number of other ISPs (e.g. Avonline, Corsat) have moved to support the subsidy. Never the less today’s Telegraph report of a deal with Nick Candy’s SSW, which also owns the consumer Satellite ISP Europasat that resells services from Avanti, Eutelsat and SES, suggests that they are at least supporting the effort.

According to the report, SSW will use BT’s satellite broadband capacity to offer Internet bundles in Britain’s worst-served areas. Later on it also states that BT, which owns data from satellites, can sell this data to private companies which sell Internet packages to households (those companies pay a share of their income to BT). Part of this may related to how the original USC (BDUK) budget was allocated to BT.

Andrew Walwyn, SSW CEO, said:

“We are delighted to be working with BT and a number of other satellite parties to extend the reach of high-speed broadband in the UK. The UK Government’s scheme both removes the barrier-to-entry cost for customer on the acquisition of the kit, and at the same times increases our addressable market in the UK.

Furthermore, as a result of similar intervention schemes in Europe we are already seeing strong sales. We have positioned ourselves strategically in key territories via a number of acquisitions since coming to the AIMmarket, to generate significant shareholder value from the subsidised roll-out of satellite broadband.”

The report also adds to the confusion by mentioning a £1bn subsidy for the Satellite scheme, which is completely wrong for the USC and appears to have been confused with the wider BDUK “superfast” goal / budget, so take what they say with a pinch of salt.

So far it seems as if BT is enabling other ISPs to offer a subsidised Satellite solution, rather than doing its own product.

UPDATE 14th Jan 2016

After four long days we’ve finally been given BT’s official statement.

A BT Spokesperson told ISPreview.co.uk:

“BT is providing the wholesale satellite broadband service operation for the Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) national satellite scheme.

BT has supply agreements in place with satellite operators Avanti and Eutelsat and has established reseller agreements with a number of retail service providers (RSPs), including Satellite Solutions Worldwide (SSW). The resellers vary in size and locality and offer different price points and support packages under the scheme to eligible customers.

Each reseller has been accredited by BT Wholesale and the BT Madley satellite service management teams, who are highly experienced in providing satellite services to businesses, governments, media and broadcast organisations and will be providing experienced operational support to each RSP in terms of order handling, fault management and technical support.

An online tool is now available to check whether the scheme has launched in your area.”