[Satellite News 07-28-10] Italian Internet service provider Tiscali signed a deal with Eutelsat Communications earlier in July to launch a satellite broadband service in Italy that will be powered by Eutelsat’s Tooway solution.
    While the company claims that 572,000 terrestrial broadband subscribers have already signed up for Tiscali BroadbandSat, Tiscali General Manager Luca Scano told Satellite News that the company is cautious about the potential for take-up in the next few months. “Around 10 percent of Italy’s population does not have access to terrestrial broadband services. Ten percent of households represent a potential target market of 2 million households. We regard the service as a very good proposition, but we need time to market the service and get our message across,” he said.
    The Tiscali-Tooway solution consists of a small satellite dish and a modem connected to the PC via Ethernet. With no need for a telephone connection, the service aims to provide two-way wireless Internet access with speeds of 3.6 megabits per second to the PC and 512 kilobits per second from the PC. Tooway is currently provided using Ka-band capacity on Eutelsat’s Hot Bird 6 satellite.
    “We think satellite technology is a good feature to have to our overall strategy, and we felt Eutelsat, with its Tooway service, would be a good partner,” Scano said. “We didn’t really consider other satellite operators. We have been looking for quite a long time to find a solution to meet the needs of these households, so now we can say we have 100 percent nationwide coverage. We feel we have a responsibility to our customers to make our broadband access products as widely available as we can to our customers. This is the reason why we decided to add a satellite broadband component. From a marketing standpoint, it is very important to have a service available to all households. It is a very positive message to deliver,” he said.
    Another issue for the service provider is pricing. “We have the main offer, which will be at 39.95 euros ($51.92) a month, which is line with traditional services, but the average price per user will be around 62 euros ($80.57) a month,” Scano said. “Obviously, this is a little higher than terrestrial alternatives. We think it is a very good proposition for high-end customers. We could look to bundle this with other services. We have other services in our portfolio.”
    Scano believes Tiscali’s brand recognition could be an important differentiator as there are very few broadband alternatives for Italian households in remote regions. While he hopes the service will soon make a contribution to Tiscali’s bottom line, Scano would not disclose first year targets for the service. “We hope to have a net contribution to our overall business in quite a short time period. We expect this business to be contributing to the bottom line in the first year.”