Satellite ISP skyDSL has expanded out from its German roots and into the UK under the guise of 'TELES skyDSL UK'. The providers one-way (satellite downloads, dialup modem uploads) broadband services will be targeted at areas uncovered by land based alternatives (ADSL):

"The British market is attractive to us as satellite services already have a large established customer base," says Klaas Imgenberg, Managing Director of TELES Wireless Broadband Internet GmbH. "Hence we anticipate a particularly quick acceptance by the market of using broadband internet access via satellite."

skyDSL was developed by the renowned IT company TELES AG from Berlin. It has been successfully established already in Germany with several ten thousands customers gained in the past years.

In other European countries, skyDSL is also a welcome alternative to terrestrial broadband offers. "Tieing in with the success of skyDSL in Germany, we want to convince British internet users of skyDSL," says Imgenberg. "skyDSL is aimed at all British internet users who don't have ADSL, but who want to surf the web immediately at high speeds and who want to avail of attractive service features."

skyDSL is available immediately anywhere in the UK independently of terrestrial ADSL infrastructure. In addition to the skyDSL software, TELES skyDSL UK Ltd. also provides a satellite dish and a PCI card or USB box which is connected to the computer. The satellite dish is pointed at the satellite Eurobird 3, 33°East.

To upload data to the internet, a telephone line or mobile phone connection is required. skyDSL achieves download speeds of up to 16Mbit/s and offers numerous free service features such as offline download of emails or content, i.e. music or images. Information about the pricing structure and service features can be found at
http://www.teles-skydsl.co.uk

Technically speaking skyDSL isn’t new to the UK, although it hasn’t had an official base in the country until now. Typically, with growing ADSL coverage, satellite providers are a diminished platform, although there are still potential customers to be found.

The provider itself offers a number of packages, starting at £4.57 per month for a pure pay-as-you-go 1Mbps service (£22.90 for the unlimited option). There are also more expensive 4Mbps and even 16Mbps options available, with all offers being based off a 12 month contract.