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digital divide Brancati Ka-Sat

Telespazio’s Fucino Space Center, located 130 kilometers from Rome

[Via Satellite 12-12-13] Telespazio is hoping satellite broadband can make a big impact in Italy, as well as other countries in Europe. The Italian company recently announced a link-up with Eutelsat to market broadband services using its Ka-Sat satellite. By integrating Ka-Sat services with existing fixed and mobile solutions, Telespazio will be able to design and offer tailored communication services to its business and institutional customers.

“We expect to reach around 8,000 new customers [in Italy next year],” Marco Brancati, vice president business unit networks and connectivity, Telespazio, told Via Satellite.

Italy is one of Europe’s major markets with a population of more than 60 million people. “Around 4 percent of the population is still in digital divide, but the potential market is even wider for the underserved households,” said Brancati. “We estimate that the potential market is about 780,000 households.”

With such a prospective target market, the omens could be good for Telespazio and Eutelsat in Italy. In terms of how the broadband landscape in Italy might develop, Brancati anticipates a quick uptake. “Development of broadband services in Italy is expected to occur in extremely rapid manner,” he said. “We see huge potential for satellite, which will either complement terrestrial and wireless alternatives for covering [the] digital divide, or represent an augmentation for them in urban suburbs where demand will be very strong, but performances of traditional solutions significantly below expectations. High Throughput Satellites (HTS) represent the best solution to fill the gap of digital divide thanks to the high performance with a competitive price (in line with the terrestrial and wireless solutions).”

The deal with Eutelsat is significant for the company. “We intend to consolidate our current positioning as leading operator and service provider in our domestic markets as well as in all the countries in which we have a direct presence,” said Brancati. “We have set bold objectives and are developing a number of initiatives to achieve them, most of which fall within 2014.”

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