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Satellite broadband "being ignored"

Posted on 5 Jan 2012 at 14:36

Broadband officials in the UK are not giving enough consideration to satellite as an option for rural broadband, a satellite provider claims.

With the UK trying to meet Government targets that all homes should have access to at least 2Mbits/sec, service providers and local authorities are struggling to stretch the £530 million budget.

The Government has suggested that 4G services might fill the shortfall, but concerns over data costs and availability mean other technologies may be required to fill gaps where fibre projects are not deemed financially viable.

Yet, satellite providers say the technology has been largely ignored despite virtually universal provision – and providers fear they are being left behind as public projects focus on big rollouts from major tech companies.

Ofcom said in August that 14% of UK homes couldn't get access at 2Mbits/sec and I find that frustrating when we can offer 100% coverage

“I was at a forum in Westminster just before Christmas and it was interesting listening to the heads of big companies like BT and Fujitsu talking about the rollout and the problems,” said Chris O'Dell a vice president of satellite equipment provider Hughes Network Systems.

“Ofcom said in August that 14% of UK homes couldn't get access at 2Mbits/sec and I find that frustrating when, if you look, we can already offer 100% coverage using satellite.”

According to O'Dell, Ka band satellite services can deliver 10Mbits/sec downloads and 2Mbits/sec uploads with “no disturbance and no fibre rollout – all you need is line of sight of the sky”.

Price concerns

However, satellite services are more expensive that ADSL offerings, and are often heavily throttled, depending on usage.

“The packages depend on the service providers and virtual network operators, but they are around £20 for the lower ones, and you can get a 10Mbits/sec download for just over £40,” O'Dell said.

“Is it in the same price point as fixed-line services? No. But the reality is that those people will never be able to get access to those speeds with a fixed-line service provider.”

Although in mainland Europe several countries offer funding for satellite installations, subsidies are less widespread in the UK, with projects limited to Wales, Kent and Cornwall.

“In Europe, people recognise that satellite is a complimentary technology for rural areas and notspots,” O'Dell said. “Things are happening, but obviously we'd like to see that opened up more in the UK.”

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User comments

tablet without a grammar check too

line of site?

By sihaz2 on 5 Jan 2012

@sihaz2

your write!

By wittgenfrog on 5 Jan 2012

Cost

The reason it gets ignored is because it's too expensive. They need to half the cost to be competitive.

By JStairmand on 5 Jan 2012

From experience

When I worked in the UK I installed a few satellite systems.

1. If the client also has a Sky dish or other satellite dish, they probably need planning permission for the new one. That costs money..

2. Cloudy day? You might as well go outside anyway, because sitting in the office won't get any work done. Satellite speeds fall *drastically* in anything other than perfect weather.
3. Want to connect your router? No go; the special software they give you to install only works on one computer at a time, unless you upgrade your package substantially. It will work with a router, but your throughput will be down to 56K modem speeds..

In short, satellite came up as flaky, expensive and slow. We were glad when our clients were finally able to get a better connection service.

By kpdirection on 5 Jan 2012

i-site

Good spot. Updated, thanks.

By SMitchell on 5 Jan 2012

Cost is what it's all about

The fundamentals of satellite mean that data ends up costing £5-£10 per Gb so the issue is not connection speed but data caps. There is not a lot of point having a 10Mbps connection if watching the Christmas Episode of Dr Who on iPlayer costs you an extra 30 quid.

By milliganp on 6 Jan 2012

Fit for porpoise

It may have changed since I last investigated it but satellite used to have serious differences from ADSL which made it usable for large downloads etc but unusable for online gaming. I believe this was something to do with packet size and latency.

So while it might "tick the box" for government to claim broadband availability it is not the same animal for all usages.

By CLCKMSS on 6 Jan 2012

Satellite Upload Speed

I had satellite broadband some years ago and it was very expensive. But I am curious.

O'Dell says that the Ka band satellite service has 10Mbps download and 2Mbps upload.

But I thought that uploads were via land line.

If that is so then shouldn't the 2Mbps upload equate to the download speed on the same line so making satellite unnecessary? Or have I missed something?

By jontym123 on 6 Jan 2012

Upload Speed and Gaming

If you lookup Tooway, they offer satellite uploads without a telephone line.
However a Geostationary sat is 22k miles above the earth and this gives a round trip latency of about 0.4 seconds which precludes most gaming and would make PC remote access very frustrating. However it will do web browsing, you-tube etc. It may be that the service does some spoofing of ip responses to improve flow.

By milliganp on 6 Jan 2012