skyDSL, Eutelsat enter agreement for satellite broadband capacity from KA-SAT

German satellite Internet services provider skyDSL Global GmbH has ssigned a new five-year contract with satellite operator Eutelsat for multiple spotbeam capacity on the KA-SAT satellite broadband platform. The contract also includes an option for an extra five years.

The agreement allows skyDSL to access selected service areas of KA-SAT, increasing the rate of its deployment of consumer satellite broadband services throughout Europe.

skyDSL possesses more than a decade's worth of experience in delivering high-quality Internet on satellite solutions. This includes 18 months of providing satellite broadband services through the KA-SAT satellite operated by Eutelsat.

Based in Berlin, the Company's skyDSL2+ brand offers a portfolio of Internet access and triple play services to customers in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, and the Benelux. Its diverse sales channels commercialize services with download speeds of up to 20 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6 Mbps. SkyDLS customers include consumers, small businesses, utility providers, industrial companies, government and aid intervention agencies.

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Hughes Network Systems celebrates 2012 sales total of 487K SATCOM terminals

2012 was a good year for Hughes Network Systems, LLC. The Company delivered more than 487,000 broadband satellite communications terminals that year for a total of more than 3.3 million terminals shipped worldwide.

Hughes extends an ever-increasing portfolio of broadband networking solutions at the behest of governments, multi-national organizations, and enterprises of all sizes across all vertical sectors.

The latest addition to its offerings is the HughesNet Gen4 broadband Internet on satellite service. Launched on October 2012 and leveraging the JUPITER high throughput technology of the EchoStar XVII Ka-band satellite, the new-generation HughesNet Gen 4 satellite broadband solution spurred the growth of its consumer high-speed satellite Internet service in North America. During the fourth quarter of 2012, Hughes shipped more than 200,000 HT satellite terminals.

According to Pradman Kaul, president of Hughes, the company considers each of the 3.3 million terminals it had delivered since 1986 to be the proof that the Company's customers depended upon the Company's solutions to accomplish their satellite communications requirements.

NBN on target to connect over 280,000 premises by mid-2013

The NBN Co has announced that it is on schedule to connect the 286,000 premises passed by the company, by June 30 of next year. At present, the company has hooked up over 25,000 premises to the national project, with 600 on fixed wireless, 17,000 on the interim satellite service, and 6400 connected to fibre. 

Jim Hassell, the head of NBN’s product development and sales, presented to the Senate Estimates committee yesterday the numbers. Out of the 17,000 on the satellite services, 9000 were former customers of the Australian Broadband Guarantee, while 8000 were said to be new customers. ABG initially offered internet on satellite to clients regardless of their location. The government initiative ended June 30 of last year after delivering broadband access to remote regions across the country. 

Senator Stephen Conroy who is also the broadband minister said that the NBN Co was already on track to hit the overall 785,000 target they announced earlier this year. For 2012, the company is planning to connect 54,300 premises. 

According to Hassell, customer take-up of the broadband services have differed from initial forecasts with over 44% opting for the 100/40 mbps. NBN Co had only expected 18% consumer take-up on the project’s highest speed offerings.

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