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Sat2Way, Overon and Bulsatcom join Internetagentur Schott and Teles who are the first
distribution partners and service providers in Germany, and who are preparing to launch
Tooway™ by the end of this month.
Commenting on the new distribution partners, Arduino Patacchini, Multimedia Director at
Eutelsat and Chairman of Skylogic said: “Following on from our first announcement of service
providers for Germany, we are delighted that Tooway™ will also soon be available in France,
Spain and Bulgaria. As a ground-breaking and affordable solution for broadband access for
the many homes beyond range of terrestrial broadband networks, we believe Tooway™ can
make a powerful contribution to resolving Europe’s digital divide”.
Tooway™ will be offered via Ka-band capacity on Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ 6 satellite at 13
degrees East and will also be available via Ku-band capacity on the EUROBIRD™ 3 satellite.
Three different service grades will be provided in Ka-band and Ku-band, with the initial offer
delivering maximum downlink speeds of up to 2048 kbps and maximum uplink speeds of up to
384 kbps. Consumer tariffs and hardware prices will be defined by each service provider
partnering in the distribution of the service.
Tooway™ will be initiated for Internet access, with broadcast TV reception also possible from
Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD™ neighbourhood with additional equipment. An extension to a real
satellite triple play service with IPTV and VoIP will be able to be proposed by distributors. In
2010, Eutelsat expects to extend its Tooway™ service offering in partnership with ViaSat by
deploying a new, high-capacity dedicated Ka-band satellite to 13 degrees East with multiple
spotbeams across Europe. It is anticipated that the new satellite will enable much higher
speed services. Its location at Eutelsat’s prime video neighbourhood also means that
consumers will be able to receive triple play services and digital TV reception with a single
dish, consolidating the HOT BIRD™ position as one of the most important and powerful
neighbourhoods in the global satellite sector.