Artist rendition of the Eutelsat KONNECT VHTS satellite. Photo: Eutelsat

TIM, one of Europe’s largest telcos, plans to test a satellite internet service in Italy using Eutelsat capacity, the company announced June 4. TIM will use capacity from the Eutelsat KONNECT satellite, and said the service will offer speeds up to 100 Mbps. The service will serve TIM landline customers located in areas not covered by the broadband and ultra broadband network across Italy.

With this initiative TIM is working to overcome Italy’s digital divide, and bring fast connectivity to areas not yet reached by fiber and fixed wireless. TIM said the first 3,000 customers who sign up will be able to exclusively try out the new service, which will be marketed in the months ahead. Customers will be given a satellite kit on free loan, complete with a satellite dish, external transmitter and Wi-Fi modem. The free-of-charge installation will be carried out by a specialized technician.

TIM will use capacity previously purchased from Eutelsat in Nov 2020.

Eutelsat is working to generate more revenues from broadband and data services. The satellite operator began direct distribution of broadband through Konnect, its retail distribution arm, in Europe and Africa in late 2020. Fixed broadband currently makes up 7% of Eutelsat’s overall revenues, but the segment was the only one to increase in revenue year-over-year in the company’s latest financial results.

Editor’s note: This story has been edited after publication to clarify the details of the service.