UK Avanti Communications has revealed that its next generation broadband Satellite - HYLAS 1 - is now undergoing final testing in Bangalore prior to being shipped on to its launch site in French Guyana. Testing is on target to be completed in Q2 2010 and will be followed by the launch.

Under ideal conditions HYLAS 1, which is primarily designed to serve the UK and Europe, should be able to deliver download speeds of up to 8Mbps. It is expected to be used in a number of countries, such as remote parts of the UK and Scotland, to help bridge the digital divide and deliver minimum speeds of 2Mbps to everybody by 2012.


It's claimed that HYLAS 1 will be the first "superfast" broadband satellite launched in Europe, though Eutelsat already has one offering speeds of up to 3.6Mbps. Hughes Network Services has shown its support for this by purchasing an initial £7.5m of capacity on the Satellite. The Scottish Government is also known to have an investment in place.

However it remains to be seen whether the services HYLAS 1 can deliver are viable, as opposed to being a quick fix. Consumer broadband Satellite services in the UK have a bad reputation for poor customer support, high costs, meagre usage allowances, unreliable download speeds, slow upload speeds and high latency. Suffice to say, HYLAS 1 still has a lot to prove.