MUMBAI: Eutelsat Communications has announced major improvements to its Tooway satellite service with the aim to enhance the speed and affordability of consumer satellite broadband across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin.

Offering higher bitrates, increased consumption profiles and lower entry costs, the latest generation of Tooway broadband services is now available and is being commercialised by distributors integrating the new offers into their service portfolio.

The Tooway portfolio of services delivered via Eutelsat’s KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite now offers download speeds of up to 18 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6Mbps, with consumption profiles of up to 50 Gigabytes per month, the company stated.
 
This move towards a faster, higher volume service has been facilitated by an upgrade of the digital modulation scheme of the KA-SAT infrastructure, from 8PSK2 to 16APSK, generating a significant increase in the system’s total throughput.

In order to lower entry costs, Eutelsat’s broadband affiliate, Skylogic, is also rolling out an attractive hardware rental programme in certain countries to enable distributors to opt to rent user equipment to new customers.

"Today‘s announcement shows our commitment to further enhancing the performance of the Tooway service which is fundamentally about connecting people – both those in areas unserved and underserved by ADSL," said Eutelsat CEO Michel de Rosen.
 
The update last month of the EU‘s Digital Scorecard shows that as many as 10 million homes in the EU27 are still not broadband-equipped. This means there is still work to be done to meet the objectives of the Digital Agenda in Europe and at a broader level across the full KA-SAT footprint.

"We believe that the enhanced Tooway service and the improved user equipment programme will forward the move to satellite broadband for those still struggling with mediocre Internet access, depriving them of the social and economic benefits of broadband," added Rosen.