Swisscom Selects Eutelsat's New Tooway(TM) Broadband Service to Ensure Universal Broadband Access Throughout Switzerland
Swisscom Selects Eutelsat's New Tooway(TM) Broadband Service to Ensure Universal Broadband Access Throughout Switzerland
PARIS, January 15/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL) today announced
a major contract for its new Tooway(TM) satellite broadband Ka-band service
with Swisscom, Switzerland's leading telecommunications company.
According to the agreement with Swisscom, Eutelsat's
Tooway(TM) service is the satellite component of a far-reaching universal
broadband programme for all Swiss homes. Swisscom won a tender from the Swiss
Ministry for Telecommunications to make broadband connectivity available as
from January 2008 to all residential Swiss customers irrespective of their
location.
Eutelsat's satellite-based consumer broadband service was
chosen by Swisscom following an exhaustive assessment of multiple wireless
broadband access solutions able to address homes beyond range of terrestrial
broadband networks. Swisscom selected Tooway(TM) in particular for its high
performance and scalability.
Launched in Europe in late 2007, Tooway(TM) unites the skills
of Eutelsat and ViaSat, a world leader in innovative satellite broadband
services. Using Ka-band capacity on Eutelsat's HOT BIRD(TM) 6 satellite for
both forward and return links, Tooway(TM) is based on the SurfBeam(R)
DOCSIS(R) broadband satellite system developed by ViaSat and already widely
deployed in North America. ViaSat's SurfBeam(R) DOCSIS(R) terminals are
already used by over 325,000 subscriber homes in North America to deliver
ADSL-like services, with a peak of almost 90,000 units shipped over the last
three months.
From its position in orbit at 13 degrees East HOT BIRD(TM) 6
provides Swisscom with full coverage of Swiss territory. The service will be
supplied to households via Bluewin, Swisscom's Internet Service Provider.
From its Zurich facilities, Bluewin will be connected by fibre to the
Tooway(TM) Network Operation Centre managed by Eutelsat's broadband affiliate
Skylogic in Turin.
For the user, the compact Tooway(TM) consumer satellite
terminal comprises an Outdoor Unit (ODU) with a 67cm dish and an Indoor Unit
(IDU) or modem that interfaces to a PC or home network via a standard
Ethernet connection.
Commenting on the contract with Swisscom, Eutelsat
Communications Chairman and CEO Giuliano Berretta said: "The selection of our
new Tooway(TM) Ka-band broadband service by Swisscom, a hallmark in
telecommunications for quality service and reliability, underscores the
intrinsic ability of satellite technologies to complement terrestrial
networks. This major contract also clearly demonstrates the ability of
Tooway(TM) to deliver a comparable service to terrestrial broadband networks,
with ease of use and high levels of scalability to accompany growth. We are
delighted with this contract as it is a first step towards the provision of
affordable satellite consumer broadband services throughout Europe and the
Mediterranean Basin in the Ka-band. This will be followed in 2010 with the
launch of KA-SAT, our first fully dedicated multi-spot Ka-band satellite
that, together with ViaSat's SurfBeam(R) DOCSIS(R) ground system, will have
the capacity to serve over one million subscribers with high-speed and
improved performance."
About Eutelsat Communications
Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL, ISIN code:
FR0010221234) is the holding company of Eutelsat S.A.. With capacity
commercialised on 24 satellites that provide coverage over the entire
European continent, as well as the Middle East, Africa, India and significant
parts of Asia and the Americas, Eutelsat is one of the world's three leading
satellite operators in terms of revenues. At 30 September 2007, Eutelsat's
satellites were broadcasting over 2,730 television channels, of which more
than 1,000 channels broadcast via its HOT BIRD(TM) video neighbourhood which
serves over 120 million cable and satellite homes in Europe, the Middle East
and North Africa. The Group's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and
mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate
networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for
transport, maritime and in-flight markets. Eutelsat's broadband subsidiary,
Skylogic, markets and operates services through teleports in France and Italy
that serve enterprises, local communities, government agencies and aid
organisations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas. Headquartered in
Paris, Eutelsat and its subsidiaries employ 529 commercial, technical and
operational experts from 27 countries.
About Skylogic
Based in Turin, north-west Italy, Skylogic operates one of the
world's leading satellite broadband IP platforms. Its operational centre,
SkyPark, is equipped to offer a complete range of broadband services
including content distribution, IP video streaming, business TV, maritime
applications, teleconferencing, remote control of installations,
telemedicine, e-learning and Voice over IP. The teleport is connected by
fibre to the Internet exchange point in Turin and uses capacity on satellites
in Eutelsat's fleet in order to serve users in Europe, Asia, the Americas and
Africa. Skylogic's customers include businesses, multinationals, government
agencies and aid organisations.
About ViaSat
ViaSat produces innovative satellite and other digital
communication products that enable fast, secure, and efficient communications
to any location. The company provides networking products and managed network
services for enterprise IP applications; is a key supplier of network-centric
military communications and encryption technologies to the U.S. government;
and is the primary technology partner for gateway and customer-premises
equipment for consumer and mobile satellite broadband services. The company
has five subsidiaries: US Monolithics, Efficient Channel Coding, Enerdyne
Technologies, Intelligent Compression Technologies and JAST. These companies
design and produce complementary products such as monolithic microwave
integrated circuits, DVB-S2 satellite communication components, video data
link systems, data acceleration and compression products, and mobile
satellite antenna systems. ViaSat has locations in Carlsbad, CA, and Duluth,
GA, along with its Comsat Laboratories division in Germantown, MD. Additional
field offices are located in Boston, MA, Baltimore, MD, Washington DC,
Australia, China, India, Italy, and Spain.
For further information from Eutelsat:
Press
Vanessa O'Connor,
Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88,
voconnor@eutelsat.fr;
Frederique Gautier,
Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88,
fgautier@eutelsat.fr;
Investors:
Gilles Janvier,
Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35,
investors@eutelsat-communications.com.
Source: Eutelsat Communications
For further information from Eutelsat: Press Vanessa O'Connor, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, voconnor@eutelsat.fr; Frederique Gautier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-38-88, fgautier@eutelsat.fr; Investors: Gilles Janvier, Tel: +33-1-53-98-35-35, investors@eutelsat-communications.com.
-------
Profile: intent
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home