Fastweb chooses Eutelsat for broadband satellite in Italy

Fastweb, Italy's second-largest fixed telecoms provider has signed an industrial agreement with Eutelsat Communications via its Skylogic broadband subsidiary that will allow Fastweb to extend the coverage of broadband service through satellite connections.
Fastweb's network currently reaches 50% of the population. Thanks to the satellite connectivity provided by Eutelsat's Tooway service, broadband access will in the future be available to companies, local governments and homes located in areas which were previously impossible to reach. In fact, Fastweb's services will have the potential to be extended to areas where no broadband provider is present – representing approximately 6% of Italian territory – thus enabling the elimination of the infrastructural digital divide.
The Tooway satellite system, which requires no telephone connection, provides two-way wireless Internet access at 2 Mbps in downlink and 384 kbps in uplink. From 2010, when Eutelsat's KA-SAT satellite designed for Internet connectivity will be launched, speeds will be further enhanced to up to 20 Mbps in the downlink.