Swisscom Selects EUTELSAT’s Broadband service to Ensure Universal Broadband Access Throughout Switzerland
Eutelsat announced contract for its new satellite broadband Ka-band service with Swisscom, Switzerland?s leading telecommunications companyAccording to the agreement with Swisscom, Eutelsat’s Tooway 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 in particular for its high performance and scalability.
Launched in Europe in late 2007, Tooway unites the skills of Eutelsat and ViaSat, a world leader in innovative satellite broadband services. Using Ka-band capacity on Eutelsat’s HOT BIRD 6 satellite for both forward and return links, Tooway is based on the SurfBeam® DOCSIS® broadband satellite system developed by ViaSat and already widely deployed in North America. ViaSat’s SurfBeam® DOCSIS® 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 6 provides Swisscom with full coverage of Swiss territory. The service will be supplied to households via Bluewin, Swisscom’s Internet Service Provider.
