8 February 2011

Avanti Communications Group plc, the broadband satellite operator, is pleased to announce that it has been selected to lead a €250k study funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) to support the definition of a new Broadband project called Broad Band Mediterranean Development (BB-MED). 

The objective of BB-MED is to implement a broadband internet service for the underserved regions of the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM).  Interest and support for the BB-MED project has been expressed by Greece, who initiated BB-MED, Luxemburg and Cyprus, by the Committee of Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy of the European Parliament, by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the European Space Operators Association.   

The study will investigate how best to aggregate demand and implement services using public private partnership principles.  The study will be led by Avanti and supported by HELLAS SAT and by the broadband research company Point Topic. 

Commenting, David Williams, Avanti Chief Executive, said: “I am delighted that ESA has chosen a team led by Avanti to perform this definition study.  The socio economic benefits of broadband are enormous.  Initiatives such as BB-MED are an excellent way of governments helping to stimulate the provision of broadband in the UfM and in particular in the many remote and rural communities which would otherwise lose out and we hope that this advances to a next phase of funded large scale deployment.”