Europe*Star and Ireland`s South West Regional Authority are pleased to announce Europe*Star`s participation in a pioneering programme to address a growing issue faced by geographically disadvantaged regions within the European Community.
The South West Regional Authority covers an area of over 12 000sq km in the South West of Ireland, and has statutory responsibility for the co-ordinated delivery of public services in the region, and the management of a number of European pilot programmes.
The South West Broadband initiative, launched in January 2003 and co-funded by the European Space Agency, is evaluating the use of satellite to deliver high-speed Internet access to rural communities, thereby encouraging balanced regional development. The Irish Prime Minister, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern, recently launched the official roll-out of the project in the town of Listowel.
The Europe*Star 1 satellite has been selected for its performance, which allows true broadband data rates in both directions using compact VSATs, and for its extended coverage over the extremities of Ireland. The satellite service uses equipment supplied by iDirect of the US, and is being operated by Netdish of Italy from its teleport near Venice. Another aspect of the trial includes the deployment of wireless LANs to deliver the Internet service within the local community. (For further details of the project and participants, please see http://www.swra.ie/broadband/).
John McAleer, Director of the South West Regional Authority, acknowledged the support and commitment of Europe*Star in ensuring the success of its field trials in rural towns throughout Cork and Kerry, at the recent pan-EU workshop held in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry, Ireland. Over 60 people representing the European Commission, DG InfoSoc, Finland, Norway, UK, Lapland, Netherlands, Spain, Germany and Ireland travelled to Cahersiveen to witness the satellite based wLAN in operation, during which McAleer stated "securing broadband connectivity is critical to the overall economic sustainability of regions across Europe, as ICTs have a propensity to become tools of greater centralisation, rather than decentralisation to those based outside of the main urban areas. Satellite broadband is a viable and welcome option, offering a flexible and scaleable service to public, business and residential communities."
The SWRA is encouraging the Irish government to bulk-buy satellite bandwidth, in order to resell it strategically across the country to areas that are void of broadband connectivity.
David Ch'egnion, Europe*Star`s General Manager, added: "Even in developed countries, many communities outside urban areas find themselves left out of the benefits of broadband Internet, restricting both the development of the local businesses that employ people, and also individuals` leisure time surfing at home. With the EU expanding to include countries from Central and Eastern Europe, steps needed to be taken to avoid the creation of a detrimental digital divide within and between countries in the European Community. It`s therefore a pleasure for Europe*Star to be involved in this exciting project."
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Europe*Star is a satellite owner-operator, offering capacity on its geostationary communications satellites. The company leases whole and fractional transponders on a full-time and occasional use basis, for use with a broad range of satellite communications services including television, Internet, telephony and corporate networking. Brought into service at the start of 2001, the innovative Europe*Star 1 satellite has five high-performance beams covering Europe, southern Africa, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent and South-East Asia. Its Europe*Star B satellite provides additional capacity for markets in Central and Eastern Europe.
An Alcatel company, Europe*Star is headquartered in London, with regional marketing offices in Cape Town and New Delhi. Europe*Star also operates its own mission control centre in Toulouse, for tracking, telemetry and control of the satellites. http://www.europestar.com
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