Bridging the “Broadband Gap” with Satellite
This past March, the EU issued a report on the urgent need for broadband connectivity throughout Europe. A new project announced on May 15th is designed to bring high-quality broadband service in less developed areas to address this demand with the HYLAS satellite.
For Giuseppe Viriglio, Director of European Union and Industry Programmes for the European Space Agency, “HYLAS will play an important role in demonstrating the advanced technological capabilities of European space companies which are truly competitive on a global scale. It also makes significant progress in solving the social problem of poor broadband coverage in many parts of Europe and serves as a template for future large scale projects ".
Responding to the i2010 initiative, the satellite will use Ka-band for broadband data communications and Ku-band for HDTV broadcasting. Considering the report does not include new EU Member States added in 2004 (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia), space-based broadband connectivity will play a key role in less-developed and rural communities around the world.
How appropriate as Wednesday is the first World Information Society Day.
