Press release issued Wednesday 13 February, 2002
BTopenworld and BT Scotland announced today that their trial of broadband delivery by satellite in the Highlands and Islands is being extended to include SMEs across the whole of Scotland.
In November, BT launched a two-way satellite service to deliver broadband to home-based, small and medium sized businesses, beginning with customers in the Highlands and Islands and Northern Ireland.
A dozen small businesses in the north of Scotland are already reaping the benefits of always-on, fast internet services, with download speeds up to 10 times faster than a normal dial-up connection. A further 50 firms will be connected up over the next few weeks, with backing from Highlands and Islands Enterprise.
BT Scotland national manager Bob Downes said: "We're delighted with the progress we've made with the technical and marketing trials and the customer buy-in. That's why we've decided to make satellite broadband available to small businesses across the whole of Scotland from today, with a full UK rollout in a couple of months.
"Small businesses in the more remote parts of Scotland can now trade comparably with their city-based competitors and can look forward to the cost savings and improved efficiency that broadband delivers.
"This is yet another example of how BT Scotland is spearheading the development of an e-Scotland, using advanced technologies to benefit business, health, education, government and the community."
Tony Harris, president, Business Internet Services, BTopenworld said: "By investing in satellite technology, BTopenworld is underlining its commitment to facilitating the rollout of broadband across the country. We know from research that broadband customers enjoy real business benefits and we are fulfilling our aim to enable even more companies to compete on a level playing field and enjoy these advantages."
Tony added: "Given the level of technology involved, whole life costs are higher than current ADSL prices. But our research shows that the benefits of broadband to small businesses significantly outweigh the cost and we hope that other enterprise companies will see this as an important tool to help promote business in their areas."
Businesses have a choice of two products. Business Satellite 500/1 allows a user to connect a single PC to the service, while Business Satellite 500/4 allows up to four PCs to be connected. Customers also have access to an on-line business resource centre which offers advice, resources and tools for business.
The 500/1 service has a monthly rental of £69.99 plus a one off connection charge of £899. The 500/4 service has a monthly rental of £139.99 and a one-off connection charge of £1,299. The connection charges cover purchase of the satellite dish and indoor broadband unit and installation charge. (All prices are ex VAT).
Highlands and Islands Enterprise is investing up to £250,000 to assist local businesses meet the one-off installation costs, as part of its commitment to facilitate broadband availability in the north. In the south, Scottish Enterprise Borders and Scottish Enterprise Dumfries and Galloway have also pledged financial assistance for their SMEs.
Bill Morton, Senior Operations Director at Scottish Enterprise said: "The expansion of this initiative is excellent news for businesses in rural areas who will now have the opportunity to take advantage of the competitive edge broadband applications can offer.
"Improving the connectivity of all business is a priority for Scottish Enterprise but there is no single answer. Satellite broadband is very much complementary to the work we're doing in this area such as the recently announced Project Atlas.
"It is just another piece of the jigsaw to allow companies of all sizes and
in all areas to take advantage of e-business applications and to position
Scotland as a prime location for today's knowledge based industries."
The satellite service is being provided in partnership with Gilat, a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology. BTopenworld is also working closely with the Radio Communications Agency and local and national government to smooth the way for the wider rollout.
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Internet satellite service launched in Highlands and Islands
Press release issued Monday 5 November, 2001
A pioneering project to deliver broadband internet access to the Highlands and Islands via satellite is set to go 'live' at the end November 2001 allowing local businesses to take advantage of faster download speeds and boost the use of e-commerce.
The programme, being developed by a partnership involving BTopenworld (British Telecom's broadband supplier), satellite-provider Gilat and Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE), is worth a total of more than &poun;2 million. It will initially be available only in the Highlands and Islands and Northern Ireland, and is due to be rolled out across the UK from next spring.
The two-way satellite service will offer 'always-on' internet access with download speeds up to ten times faster than conventional phone line access. It is hoped that up to 320 Highlands and Islands businesses and organisations could benefit from support under the pilot programme.
HIE will invest up to £300,000 in the project. This money will be used to assist businesses and organisations meet the one-off costs of installing the satellite access system and is intended to achieve a 'level playing field' - allowing business in the Highlands and Islands to access broadband services at a cost similar to that being paid by companies elsewhere in the UK. There will be two levels of service available - one for single PC (personal computer) subscribers and one catering for up to 4 PC's. The single PC service will have a monthly rental of £69.99, the multiple PC service will cost £139.99 a month.
HIE has been working for some time to achieve sustainable and affordable broadband access for the area and this project will help stimulate demand as well as demonstrating the advantages that faster data transfers can bring. One of the conditions of assistance is that the companies and organisations supported provide feedback on the quality and sustainability of the service - but also that they allow others in their areas to see their service in action. In this way the project can act as a large scale demonstration of the business benefits of broadband access. E-business advisers in each of the ten HIE Network Local Enterprise Companies have already been working to contact and identify key businesses and organisations in their areas who might benefit from the project and they will also be involved in promoting the service once it gets underway.
Douglas MacDiarmid, director of growing businesses at HIE said: "We are delighted to see this project coming to fruition, having been working towards it for some time. It's a key objective of ours to assist businesses in our area become as competitive as possible and having access to top-level communications is a major part of this effort.
"Many of the businesses and organisations in the Highlands and Islands will be unfamiliar with broadband servcies - both in terms of the technology required and the benefits it can bring. That's why a project like this is important - not only will it help those businesses most directly involved but it will be a showcase for others and will help to boost demand. Demonstrating this demand will be an important lever in encouraging telecommunications companies to consider the provision of other forms of broadband access."
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BTopenworld brings Broadband to UK businesses nationwide with Satellite Service and Extended Reach broadband
Press release issued 31 July 2001
BTopenworld has today announced two initiatives which will bring broadband within reach of businesses and consumers across the country.
In November it will launch a two-way satellite service to deliver broadband to
home-based, and small and medium sized businesses (the SOHO and SME markets).
The service will initially be available to customers in Northern Ireland and the highlands and islands
of Scotland, before being extended to other areas of the UK.
BTopenworld will partner with Gilat Satellite Networks, with whom an MOU has
been signed, to provide a two-way solution.
Gilat is a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology.
The initiative has already been welcomed by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE).
BTopenworld is also making ADSL available to more people using Extended Reach
technology. ADSL will be available to around 13 million households connected
to enabled exchanges by the end of September this year.
Previously ADSL technology that converts a normal telephone line
into a high speed digital line, was only available to customers who
lived around 3.5km from an ADSL-enabled exchange. Extended reach, or
Rate Adaptive, technology increases this "footprint" to up to 5.5km.
Andy Green, BTopenworld chief executive officer said:
"Today's announcement represents a set of innovative initiatives to
accelerate the availability of broadband on a truly nationwide basis.
It also further enhances BTopenworld's reputation as a national broadband operator.
"The launch of our satellite service will meet the demand for always on,
high speed Internet services for businesses in more remote
, while Extended Reach will now mean more than 90% of customers connected to an ADSL-enabled
exchange, will be able to access broadband technology," he added.
On the new satellite service Andy said: "We recognise that there will
be a range of issues to overcome, including planning and licensing.
We are already working with the relevant authorities, however,
existing rules were not designed for mass deployment of this technology
and we will be seeking government support to overcome these and help us
give a real shot in the arm to broadband Britain." As part of the initial service
launch, BTopenworld is working with central and local
government as well as the Radiocommunications Agency.
Details of the satellite service will be available
closer to the launch date but rental prices are expected to
start at less than £100 a month(ex VAT).
Andy said: "Given the level of technology involved,
whole life costs will be higher than current ADSL prices
but our research shows that the benefits of broadband to
small businesses sufficiently outweigh the cost and we
hope that regional authorities will see this as an important tool to
help promote business development in their areas."
Joshua Levinberg senior vice president of business development
and co-founder of Gilat said: "We are very pleased to co-operate
with BTopenworld and respect their strong commitment to broadband.
Our satellite broadband solution will provide BTopenworld with the
capability to offer broadband services to business customers all around
the UK. This is an important step in our strategy of co-operating with
prominent wholesale partners in major markets in Europe."
HIE's director of growing businesses, Douglas MacDiarmid said:
"It is very important to us that the Highlands and Islands reputation for having
advanced telecommunications is maintained and enhanced, as such we are very pleased that
BTopenworld have selected the area to pilot this broadband service via satellite.
"The huge advantage of a satellite solution is its ability to deliver the
same level of service throughout the area, from Shetland to Kintyre. It
sweeps away the idea of peripherality, with businesses in this area able to
operate on a level playing field with competitors elsewhere."
About Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd., with its global subsidiaries Spacenet Inc.,
Gilat Europe and Gilat Latin America, is a leading provider of
telecommunications solutions based on VSAT satellite network technology.
The Company provides satellite-based, end-to-end enterprise networking and
rural telephony solutions to customers across six continents, and markets
interactive broadband data services. SkyBlaster(TM), Skystar Advantageâ,
DialAw@y IP(TM) and FaraWay(TM) are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. or its subsidiaries. Go to Gilat at
www.gilat.com
Extended Reach (Rate Adaptive) technology
ADSL (Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line) is a distance dependent
technology. Previously, subscribers needed to be located within 3.5km
from the local exchange in order to be able to receive ADSL.
With Extended Reach, this distance is extended to about 5.5km.
Subscribers living between 3.5km and 5.5km from the
exchange will still receive the same level of service downstream (ie up to 500Kbs)
but the upstream bandwidth will vary according to
the distance from the local exchange (typically from 64Kbps to 250Kbps).
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