Satellite Broadband Provider Avanti Signs UK Telcos

Satellite broadband provider Avanti Communications Group has won 2 year contracts for the provision of satellite broadband products to 4 UK telecommunications suppliers.

This is good news for the 10% of UK homes that cannot currently get an acceptable broadband service as the satellite broadband services of these four companies, Avonline PLC, Broadbandwherever, Coview Solutions and KBR IT & Networking Solutions Limited could fill this void.

Avanti is currently developing its first satellite, known as Hylas, which will be launched later this year. It provides its current EU customers with broadband services through a leased satellite. The launch of its own satellite will enable it to broaden its customer base to the UK and Ireland.
The Chief Executive of Avanti explained, “Our wins in the UK are also important in the light of the British Government’s “Digital Britain” study. When the final report is published in June, Avanti expects it to recommend the use of satellite to address the 10% of the UK population which does not have access to acceptable terrestrial broadband services. We now have the distribution in the UK to cope with large scale and rapid deployment.”

However, satellite broadband is not as reliable as consumers would like it to be. In fact, it can sometimes be even less reliable than mobile broadband.

For example, it is thought that multiplayer gaming would be difficult to do with a satellite connection, but obviously that won’t affect everybody.

Overall whether it is slightly unreliable or not, customers who currently fit into the 10% of UK homes that can’t access broadband will no doubt welcome the news that this could soon change.