Satellite ISP Tariam has cut the connection cost on its Eutelsat Tooway based Homenet product and called for government subsidies to help bridge the affordability gap for remote and rural communities. The service can deliver download speeds of 'up to' 3.6Mbps (0.38Mbps uploads) to any part of the UK from £35 inc. VAT per month (2.4GB usage allowance).

Tariam has also made installations more flexible, allowing customers to pick their own local installer. The adjustment means that a one-off installation and hardware setup fee will now cost £699.00. On the other hand those who choose to use a local installer will pay £399.00 for the hardware plus a £29.00 connection fee; this does not include the price of whoever might install the kit for you.

Satellite Broadband Packages:

Basic £35 (2.4GB usage allowance)
Bronze £45 (4GB usage allowance)
Silver £55 (6GB usage allowance)
Gold £115 (12GB usage allowance)

On the surface this seems incredibly expensive, especially for the type of communities that might have little choice but to adopt such a costly solution. However Tariam's boss claims that the potential benefits of a satellite broadband connection can easily out-way any initial sting in your pocket.


Technically the argument is sound, of course you could just as easily apply a similar principal to many other aspects of everyday life. For example, in many situations a car can help you reach a greater variety of higher paid job opportunities and is thus a valuable investment.

However this doesn't change the fact that you might still be stuck in a place where competition is so poor that you're left with an expensive and considerably less flexible (small usage allowances, high latency, slower speeds) solution in comparison to those living elsewhere. Then again being without such a service could be much worse.

Walwyn notes that the challenge of so called “not-spots” is still very much ‘front-page-news’ for areas where fixed line broadband is sparse, but the issue doesn’t seem to be getting much coverage by the major political parties in campaigning for the General Election this Thursday.


At present charging such a huge amount for the service rental and necessary kit is unlikely to be seen as an affordable solution to solving the Digital Divide, though such a subsidy could indeed bring it down into the realms of affordability.

Both Avanti and Eutelsat are also planning to launch both cheaper and faster Satellite services towards the end of this year, though we suspect that without a subsidy their setup costs could remain unattractive. We do not yet know what these new products will look like, although speeds of 8-10Mbps are often talked about.