9 February 2015

Telekom Austria Group (TAG),and Eastern Europe, with 23 million customers, is extending its relationship with Eutelsat Communications  to offer satellite broadband across its footprint. One out of three households have no Internet access in some operating countries of the Telekom Austria Group.

The new addition of Eutelsat’s satellite broadband service, which delivers download speeds of up to 22 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 6 Mbps, also equips Telekom Austria Group to offer triple play services comprising broadband, voice calls and television (via the EUTELSAT 16A satellite) to any home in the region, using a single dish. In September 2013, the two companies announced an agreement to host Telekom Austria Group’s white label Direct-to-Home platform on the EUTELSAT 16A satellite to broadcast television services to Central and Eastern Europe.

Telekom Austria Group’s new satellite broadband service is immediately available in Austria through its A1 Telekom and all A1 retail stores and will be rolling out in more territories in early 2015. Communicating direct with Eutelsat’s KA-SAT satellite, the service requires a small satellite dish and modem and operates without the need for a fixed telephone line. Installation of user equipment is carried out by a Telekom Austria Group qualified installer.

Jean-Francois Fenech, General Manager at Eutelsat Broadband, the specialised Eutelsat affiliate that provides broadband services through KA-SAT, commented: “This agreement and our relationship with Telekom Austria Group is the perfect example of how Eutelsat can work with international telecom operators to offer high-value multimedia services to users across Europe. We are delighted to now be delivering broadband services alongside TAG’s DTH platform to make triple play a reality across Central and Eastern Europe.”

“We are delighted to be able to announce the expansion of our partnership with Eutelsat. Based on these broadband services, we are now in a position to reach those remotely located areas across our operating footprint, that so far have had no access to our Internet infrastructure. SAT broadband is a perfect supplement to our existing network infrastructure as it allows us to meet this additional demand for Internet coverage,”said Stefan Amon, Director Wholesale Telekom Austria Group, on the new possibilities