Tooway outdoor unit modem for KaSat. Photo: Eutelsat

[Via Satellite 11-22-13] Poste Italiane CEO Massimo Sarmi and Eutelsat chairman and CEO Michel de Rosen, signed an agreement to commercialize the Tooway satellite broadband service.

According to data from the Italian Ministry of Economic Development, 2.37 million Italians in 3,600 towns and villages are not covered by at least one fixed service or mobile broadband provided by operators of third generation services or fourth generation, or WiMax. The Tooway service will be available locally through Poste Mobile in Poste Italiane offices and through their business sellers, with the priority to serve regions beyond range of terrestrial broadband from first quarter 2014.

The Tooway service works in conjunction with Eutelsat’s Ka Sat satellite, enabling Internet connectivity with download speeds of up to 20 Mbps and upload speeds up to 6 Mbps. The service requires a small dish and a satellite modem connected to a computer. The dish can be self-installed or by one of the 4,000 installers across Europe that have been trained and certified by Eutelsat, of which more than 1,000 are located in Italy. Using the same dish, Tooway also offers features that include multi-channel television and VoIP for full triple play, as well as a wireless home network.

“The goal of this partnership with Eutelsat is to help reduce the digital divide and bring individuals and businesses the opportunity to fully develop e-commerce and cloud computing services,” said Sarmi.