UK broadband satellite ISP Aramiska has today announced a new community broadband service specifically designed to bring “affordable” two-way hi-speed satellite access to individuals living in rural communities of the UK:

Aramiska launches new community broadband service helping rural communities in the 'Battle for Broadband' campaign

Aramiska, the number one alternative European broadband services provider, announced that it will be launching the UK's first satellite broadband service, specifically designed to bring affordable broadband to the individuals and businesses in the rural communities of the UK and Europe.

The ARC 2000+ service from Aramiska will offer rural communities the ability to have a broadband connection regardless of location. Using Aramiska's two-way high-speed satellite broadband connection, the new service can be installed within 30 days, and provides unlimited data usage, no limit on the number of PCs connected and enhanced performance characteristics. Currently a number of rural communities are campaigning to have their local exchanges upgraded to gain access to broadband, however the majority have been unsuccessful. Aramiska is providing them with the means to win their battle for broadband.

Based on Aramiska's managed satellite broadband service for business, the ARC 2000+ package will allow users to have a broadband connection to the Internet [m1]via a centrally located 75cm satellite dish. The central satellite antenna could be based in a village hall or community meeting point and users can then be connected through any fixed or wireless technology including 'wi-fi'. Community organisations could use a number of wireless connections to bounce two-way signals off receivers to individual users even if they are some miles away from community centre. The contention ratio of data transfer on the ARC 2000+ community package is four to one on the downstream and two to one on the upstream in comparison to a fifty to one ratio on a normal ADSL connection. The new service, available today, enables communities to bypass the need for lengthy campaigning, and offers a fully managed alternative to an ADSL connection.

Aramiska has a number of pilot communities using the service including Angus Glens in Scotland, West Haddon in Northamptonshire, Wedmore in Somerset and Catterick Village in North Yorkshire as well as in France and Spain.

Aramiska's two-way high-speed service packages offer up to 2,048 Kbps downstream and 512 Kbps upstream data transmission. The open standard satellite technology provides villages with a fast, always-on Internet connection necessary to download and transmit large data files and run multimedia or other bandwidth-hungry applications.

We’re not entirely sure what “individuals” could afford a 512Kbps two-way connection at £199 per month and £500 setup, but we’re sure some businesses could benefit. Two-Way services have always been costly.

Aramiska has also aided a number of community wireless solutions by using its satellite as the primary datalink for the network.