A scheme for bringing remote regions in the UK online using satellites has been expanded following “promising results”.
The Superfast Satellite for Communities (SS4C) is a UK Government-funded pilot programme aimed at connected the UK’s remaining five percent to broadband services.
SES said that a pilot scheme in Luxborough, Somerset, run by ISP Satellite Internet saw 61.5 percent of participants in one-month trials sign up to a one-year contract following its success.
The programme has now been taken to additional locations in the country.
Mike Locke, Managing Director at Satellite Internet, claimed SS4C was able to offer 100 percent coverage “in all but the most unlikely and extreme of cases”.
He said: “The feasibility of broadband provision over satellite is not in the least constrained – technically or commercially – by sparse population density, community remoteness or challenging geography. It can therefore play a full part to meet the needs of users who cannot be reached by more traditional Internet delivery, making it an ideal solution for the final five percent challenge faced by Broadband Delivery UK.”
SS4C is based on SES Techcom Services’ Astra Connect for Communities solution, which uses Satellite Distribution Nodes to feed a wireless access network that supplies homes with “super fast” broadband. Premises outside the wireless network range are fitted with Direct-to-Home dishes on the wall and connected via individual modems.
Gerhard Bethscheider, Managing Director at SES Techcom Services, said: “Satellite is proven to be a reliable, cost-effective solution and this project represents a major step in providing broadband access for all in the region. It also demonstrates that satellite technology is vital in accelerating broadband roll-out.”