Mars Spanish Mission to receive satellite broadband services from HISPASAT

Spanish satellite communications operator HISPASAT will be providing satellite broadband services for the Mars Spanish Mission. The preliminary phase of the project, which will run from April 4-7, will be developed in the Sierra Jubierre in Aragon, Spain. As the first ever Spanish simulated Mars colonization mission, the phase will culminate in 2014 in a mission that will be accomplished in Utah, United States.

Under the terms of agreement, HISPASAT will be in charge of providing communications between the researchers at the scientific camp and the Mission Support Center housed at the European Business and Innovation Center (CEEI) in Zaragoza, Spain. The satellite communications company is also responsible for the necessary equipment to maintain such connections for the project.

With the help of HISPASAT’s efficient satellite broadband solution, it will enable Internet access to reach any geographic location, especially remote areas that terrestrial networks cannot reach. The broadband service will also reduce the digital divide between rural regions and big cities by providing all users with high-powered web access.

HISPASAT has already deployed more than 4,000 antennas dedicated to broadband service in Spanish territory, making it the forerunner of Spain’s residential satellite broadband market.

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SABER Project to publish guidelines for local authorities to procure satellite broadband solutions

The SABER project in Europe made a recent announcement that it will publish a set of practical guidelines next month to help regional authorities specify, procure and fund satellite broadband solutions that will aid ten million EU homes caught in the digital divide to access broadband services through satellite. The recent development came after SABER’s first best practice workshop in Cork on February 19, which gathered key influencers, representatives and satellite experts from 21 regional authorities across Europe.

The project was specifically created to assist approximately ten million households across Europe with limited or no access to broadband services. Managed by CSI Piemonte, SABER is expected to last for a period of two years, involving 26 partners which include Eutelsat, SES Broadband Services, Astrium, 21 other regional authorities and ICT public and private organizations representing 13 countries.

In a company statement, Eutelsat’s Director of European Institutional Affairs Stefano Agnelli said: “Access to high speed broadband is a critical infrastructure requirement for European business growth, education and social interaction and yet 10 million EU homes are today still without access, with those in rural areas particularly suffering. Satellite broadband is a fast and cost effective solution available today to assist those digitally deprived communities and SABER’s role is to help regional authorities to benefit from this solution and to provide advice on how to deploy it in the most effective way for their communities.”

Global IP expands business partnership with Intelsat, signs broadband service deal

Intelsat S.A recently stated that Global IP signed multi-year deals which will enable the company to deliver broadband service to its maritime customers in the Indian Ocean Region. Spain-based Global IP will use capacity on the Intelsat 22 at 72 degrees East, Intelsat 702 at 33 degrees East, and the IntelsatOne(sm) terrestrial network to launch advanced mobility services.

Global IP will assemble its DVB-S2 high-throughput platform at Intelsat’s teleport in Fuchsstadt, Germany, which will allow access to Intelsat’s satellite fleet and IntelsatOne infrastructure. With this new development, it will allow Global IP to offer worldwide Ku-band maritime services to oil and gas customers and energy providers in Africa, Europe, Asia-Pacific and the Middle East. Intelsat is expected to finish its global broadband mobility platform in the first quarter of 2013, while the launch of Intelsat 27 is scheduled for January 31st.

Licensing requirements appeased by FCC for in-flight service providers

The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has recently abated its licensing requirements for in-flight broadband Internet services.

The updated in-flight regulations recognize Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft as a licensed application of fixed-satellite service, allowing FCC to improve competition and process applications up to 50 percent faster.

Earth Stations Aboard Aircraft are one of the two mobile applications in the fixed-satellite service dominion, the other one being vehicle-mounted earth stations that offer satellite communications with land vehicles and air vessels. The commission had authorized companies before to provide these services, but only on an ad hoc basis.

The report stated that the FCC labeled the market of in-flight broadband Internet services as a very valuable sector of the mobile telecommunications market in the United States, “promoting the widespread availability of Internet access to airplane passengers.”

“By means of satellite antennas mounted on the exterior of aircraft, satellites will be able to communicate with mobile devices used by passengers and crew of those aircraft,” the Federal Communications Commission said in the report. “The satellite antenna will carry the signal to and from the aircraft, and mobile technologies such as Wi-Fi will provide communications within the aircraft's hull. The advancing technology has made it possible for mobile platforms to ensure antenna pointing accuracy sufficient to keep an earth station antenna focused on a satellite, while maintaining communications and preventing interference with adjacent satellites.”

The commission shares in-flight communications regulation duties with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).