Page 63 - SAMENA Trends - October 2021

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TIM Launches Satellite Service for the Underserved

Telecom Italia (TIM) has gone live with a new satellite-based the Konnect and Konnect VHTS (very high throughput satellite).
offering that is set to bring high-speed broadband services to the In service since November 2020, Eutelsat Konnect has a total
most difficult to reach areas of Italy. Although not mentioned in capacity of 75 Gbit/s and is capable of offering speeds of up to
today's release, the new TIM Super Sat service is the result of an 100 Mbit/s in 15 European countries. Konnect VHTS is expected
agreement signed by TIM and France-based satellite company to allow speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s once it comes into operation.
Eutelsat in November 2020. TIM said it will offer the 100Mbit/s The satellite, due to enter into service in 2022, will also be built by
data-only service (with 5Mbit/s upload) to new customers that Thales Alenia Space and will have Ka-band capacity of 500 Gbit/s.
are not yet covered by its fiber-to-the-home (FTTH), fiber-to-the- Elsewhere in Europe, Eutelsat has reached similar distribution
cabinet (FTTC) or 5G-based fixed-wireless access (FWA) services. agreements with Orange in France and Deutsche Telekom in
TIM Super Sat costs €49.90 (US$43) per month including a satellite Germany. For example, DT plans to distribute high-speed satellite
kit complete with a satellite dish, a Wi-Fi modem and installation broadband to households in the more remote parts of Germany
by a technician. It comes with a fair usage policy of 100GB per using Eutelsat Konnect from the end of 2021. The operator and
month at maximum speeds, after which speeds are reduced to 4 Eutelsat are currently piloting an initial deployment in the city of
Mbit/s (1Mbit/s upload). The service, as you might expect, comes Heimerzheim, where the fixed network was badly affected by the
at something of a premium compared to terrestrial services: TIM catastrophic flooding earlier in the year. Orange has contracted
currently offers 40Mbit/s 5G FWA services for €29.90 ($26) a to use all available capacity on the Konnect satellite to cover the
month and FTTH with 1Gbit/s speeds also at €29.90 per month. entire French territory. Amid all this activity, Eutelsat recently
TIM signed the strategic agreement with Eutelsat as part of its found the time to raise its stake in Britain's OneWeb, from 17.6%
aim to gradually close the digital divide in Italy, covering the most to 22.9%, shelling out $165 million to make it happen. It has also
isolated and remote areas of the country. To be sure, providing been busy fending off unwanted attention from Patrick Drahi. Just
broadband coverage throughout the nation remains a challenge. last month Eutelsat shareholders rejected an unsolicited takeover
In 2020, Italy ranked 24 out of 27 European Union member states bid from the billionaire controlling shareholder in operator Altice
in its take-up of ultrafast Internet of at least 100 Mbit/s, according Europe.
to the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI). In its 2021 annual
report, national statistics agency Istat noted that while Italy's
national recovery program has the "ambitious goal" of providing
broadband coverage of at least 1 Gbit/s to the entire population
by 2025, Italy is currently lagging far behind in the availability of
ultra-broadband connections compared with other EU countries.
Under its agreement, TIM is purchasing the entire transmission
capacity for Italy on the two new high-performance satellites that
Eutelsat has either activated or will activate in the coming months:

Avanti Connecting Rural Africa with Launch of Avanti EXTEND

EXTEND’s built-in and fully operational CAPEX solution integrates
seamlessly into MNOs terrestrial networks to reduce network
complexity and increase efficiency. This means customers do
not need to manage satellite configurations, hub infrastructure
or terrestrial networks to deploy a successful satellite cellular
backhaul topology. The service also offers MNOs the opportunity
to quickly and effectively undertake large deployments and scale
operations to support long-term rural expansion at no additional
CAPEX to customers. Libby Barr, Chief Operating Officer at Avanti,
Avanti Communications has announced the launch of a new commented: “Our mission is to work in partnership with the people
managed satellite service for rural connectivity branded as Avanti of Africa to empower growth, protect communities and unlock
EXTEND. Designed specifically for mobile network operators opportunities for individuals, businesses, and governments by
(MNOs), Avanti EXTEND provides high-performance and cost- creating better connections across the continent. By working
effective 2G, 3G and 4G solutions to remote and hard-to-reach closely with MNOs, the launch of Avanti EXTEND will help to
areas across sub-Saharan Africa. This enables customers to make this mission a reality.” The launch of Avanti EXTEND follows
provide reliable cellular service to the 100 million people living in Avanti’s recent partnership with Clear Blue Technologies which
these challenging locations that would otherwise be impossible is expected to connect more than 200 million people across sub-
to reach using traditional terrestrial infrastructure. Avanti Saharan Africa in the next three to five years.

63 OCTOBER 2021