Astra-Neo Sky agreement

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SES Astra Neo Sky, the broadband operator of Iberdrola, have reached an agreement to launch broadband Internet services via satellite. The new internet access, aimed mainly at places in Spain that do not have ADSL coverage, will offer download speeds of between 256 kbps and 768 kbps, and a return channel through the telephone line.

This new offer from Astra is complementary to two-way broadband Internet solutions which Neo Sky has been marketing since 2002 through Satlynx, a company in which SES Global has a shareholding. Satlynx' two-way Internet system notably enables small and medium sized companies as well as public administrations to benefit from both upstream and downstream Internet access speeds of up to 2 Mbps.

Satellite is the only system capable of ubiquitously gaping the so-called "digital divide" in Spain, as it enables broadband connections in places with no other access possibilities. The agreement reached by SES Astra and Neo Sky will thus enable isolated areas in Spain to have broadband access to the Internet. More than 10 pct. of Spanish homes currently receive digital television via Astra.

Source: SES Astra