Broadband Satellite ISP Ethnet, a Hughes based virtual ISP (vISP), has revealed that it will be launching a new range of 12 services in the UK during January 2011. Naturally the packages aim to deliver faster speeds (up to 8Mbps) at lower prices, starting at £25.00 +vat per month for a basic 1Mbps download (128Kbps upload) option with 2GB (GigaBytes) of monthly usage allowance.

Ethnet will also be running an introductory offer, giving the first 12 months of 2Mbps download service (256Kbps upload) for £39.00 +vat per month. The equipment consists of a 74cm KA band dish + modem (£399) and installation from £250. We have only listed the HOME Packages below.

Home Starter
Download Speed: 1024Kbps (1Mb)
Upload Speed: 128Kbps (0.12Mb)
Usage Allowance: 2GB
First 6 Months: 25.00 (Monthly)
Normal Price: 35.00 (Monthly)

Home Standard
Download Speed: 2048Kbps
Upload Speed: 256Kbps
Usage Allowance: 4GB
First 6 Months: 39.00 (Monthly)
Normal Price: 55.00 (Monthly)

Home+
Download Speed: 2048Kbps
Upload Speed: 256Kbps
Usage Allowance: 6GB
First 6 Months: 48.00 (Monthly)
Normal Price: 59.00 (Monthly)

In terms of value, Ethnet's future deals are a big step up from their current/old home packages that offer download speeds of 512Kbps (128Kbps upload) for a whopping £59 +vat per month (unlimited FUP usage).

However even Ethnet's new packages are still behind other products, such as those from Bently Telecom and BeyonDSL. For example, BeyonDSL charges £29.99 inc. VAT for a 4Mbps download (0.25Mb upload) package with a 2.5GB usage allowance. Meanwhile Bently can offer 3.6Mb downloads (0.38Mb upload) with a 2.4GB allowance for £26.43 inc. VAT.

In addition both Eutelsat (Bently supplier) and Avanti will be launching new satellites before the end of this year, allowing for faster speeds of up to 8-10Mbps and higher bandwidth packages to surface in the first quarter of 2011.