Eutelsat Reveals New 100Mbps UK Broadband Satellite Plans

European space firm Eutelsat has released details of what their new KONNECT based satellite packages will look like for UK consumers, which will offer a top download speed of 100Mbps and “unlimited” data usage. But admittedly there are a few caveats to consider.

The packages are being powered by Eutelsal’s new KONNECT satellite, which this week entered into commercial service (here) after being launched at the start of this year (here). The 3.6 metric ton spacecraft – sitting in a Geostationary Orbit at 7° East – is capable of sharing 75Gbps of capacity across a network of 65 spotbeams using the Ka-band spectrum.

At present the only way to see the new UK accessible plans is to go directly to Eutelsat’s own ISP outlet – Konnect, but other resellers will follow. The good news is that “all standard installations within the UK are offered free of charge, as is the hardware,” (this would normally cost hundreds of pounds!) said a spokesperson to ISPreview.co.uk.

Otherwise the packages being offered look a bit like this and all come attached to a 12-month minimum contract term. However, despite the mention of free installation and hardware, there is in fact a £49 one-off activation fee for these, but it only pops-up when you try to make an order.

Konnect Easy (£29.99 pcm inc. VAT)
Max download speeds of up to 30Mbps and 5Mbps upload
Average download speed of 22Mbps
Average upload speeds of 3Mbps

Konnect Zen (£44.99 pcm)
Max download speeds of up to 50Mbps and 5Mbps upload
Average download speed of 37Mbps
Average upload speeds of 3Mbps

Konnect Max (£69.99 pcm)
Max download speeds of up to 100Mbps and 5Mbps upload
Average download speed of 75Mbps
Average upload speeds of 3Mbps

In being a GEO satellite platform there are a few big caveats to consider here. Firstly, latency times will be extremely slow and so this service is no use if you enjoy playing fast paced online multiplayer games or for that matter, using any other internet service that significantly benefits from or requires fast latency times.

The packages also claim to include “unlimited” usage, “with no data threshold,” but they add a warning: “If a large number of customers are using the service at the same time, the speed may be adjusted, but each month you receive a prioritised amount of data, which varies depending on the deal you have chosen. This amount of data is protected against any adjustment.”

Satellite ISPs often have a wonky understanding of the term “unlimited,” as confirmed via Konnect’s legal text: “With the[Easy, Zen and Max] packages, once you reach 20Gb, 60Gb and 120Gb of data consumption respectively, your data consumption may be reduced in favour of other users on the network during peak times, and your download speed may be affected. Your consumption is not counted at night (01:00 to 06:00 in the morning – local time).” We assume they mean GB for GigaBytes there and not Gb for Gigabits.

One other issue we came across is that the only addresses we could find on the Konnect website were in France, which could make it difficult to get protection under UK rules and regulations (especially after Brexit). Suffice to say that it may be better to wait until UK resellers start offering such packages.

Overall, this could be a good – if hopefully temporary – option for those in very remote rural communities with lower than average usage demands, who in some cases might otherwise be left to wait years for better mobile broadband or fixed broadband connectivity to arrive. Even then, some of the most remote homes might never see it.

The biggest challenge for Eutelsat is that their new service arrives at a time before great change, not least from the imminent arrival of additional competition via the new generation of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) mega constellations – SpaceX, Amazon and OneWeb etc. Unlike GEO satellites, LEOs can offer significantly faster latency and early speedtests are already well into the same sort of “ultrafast” (100Mbps+) territory (here).