As the latest Internet-via-satellite service skyDSL launches into full operation, Interspace surveys the range of offerings showcased at the Internationale Funkausstellung in Berlin…

Berlin-based multimedia company Strato Medien AG launched its Internet-via-satellite service, skyDSL, which offers speeds up to 60 times faster than ISDN as a regular service for the mass market in Germany, during the Internat-ionale Funkausstellung (Ifa) consumer electronics fair in Berlin last week. Berlin-based multimedia company Strato Medien AG launched its Internet-via-satellite service, skyDSL, which offers speeds up to 60 times faster than ISDN as a regular service for the mass market in Germany, during the Internat-ionale Funkausstellung (Ifa) consumer electronics fair in Berlin last week.

The launch followed a trial spanning several weeks with more than 1,000 participants. SkyDSL uses capacity on DFS Kopernikus 2 FM 2 (28.5 degrees East), which Eutelsat has recently taken over from Deutsche Telekom. A total of ten transponders have been reserved for skyDSL; each can handle up to 10,000 customers. A skyDSL spokesman exclusively revealed to Interspace at Ifa that it is planned to use transponders on TElEcom 2A (8 degrees West) in future as well, mainly to serve clients outside Germany. He added that no decision has been made whether TElEcom 2A, whose Ku-Band capacity Eutelsat has recently taken over from France TElEcom, will also be used for German customers. Strato markets skyDSL in several packages, which are tailored for the different needs of its users. A speciality which comparable services do not currently offer is the continuous reception of e-mails without any additional charge or data transfer limit.

Permanent connection

Marc Alexander Ulrich, chairman and founder of Strato Medien AG said at a joint press conference with Eutelsat at Ifa that customers will be able to receive their personal e-mails via that service 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without incurring any telephone charges. This in fact turns skyDSL into a one way satellite-based permanent high-speed Internet connection. As soon as an e-mail has arrived, it is automatically sent to customeris PC. It will not be necessary to use a costly dial-up telphone-line based Internet connection to check whether new e-mails are present. However, a conventional telephone-line modem connection is needed to send e-mails. A return channel via satellite is not planned by Strato in the foreseeable future, a spokesman said.

To keep the phone charges as low as possible, the company is seeking to collaborate with commercial phone companies or Internet providers. The spokesman revealed that cooperation with AOL, Germanyis second largest online service after T-Online, is currently being worked out.

skyDSL has opted for the following technical solution: Stratois e-mail server forwards each new e-mail automatically to the customeris PC. During the next modem connection using the so-called ë handshakei it is verified whether all e-mails were sent and stored correctly-then they are finally deleted from the server. This synchronisation prevents e-mails from getting lost, for example when the PC crashes during e-mail reception.

Strato offers four different skyDSL packages. Each package includes the hardware (satellite dish of 43 cm diameter, PC card), software and free support by telephone and e-mail. The differences are within the transfer rate which is 400 kBit/s in the smallest package (package S) and amounts to 4,000 kbit/s in the largest package (package XL). Package S includes 20 sky hours each month, package XL 50 hours.

The smallest package costs DM59 (Pounds 20) a month, the largest DM399 a month. The packages in between are marketed for DM99 and DM199. The one-time installation fee costs DM99. A ë sky houri consists of either 60 minutes online time or 12MB transfer volume-whichever is reached first. If the time limit is exceeded, further ësky hoursi cost during daytime (0600 to 2000 CET) between DM3 and DM8 and between DM0.60 and DM1.60 at night, based on the selected package option. The 20 sky hours included in package S thus correspond to either 240 MB transfer volume or 1,200 minutes online time. It is planned to reduce the monthly fee of the smallest package to DM29 or 39 in November or December. The hardware is currently only available as a PC card meaning that Notebook users canit access skyDSL. At the beginning of 2000, a USB box is planned to reach that target group as well. During Ifa, 35 so-called demo-points were available on Eutelsatis stand for testing skyDSLis speed.

While skyDSLis customers still have to use a conventional and costly telephone modem connection to request Internet pages and sent e-mails, Dublin-based Web-Sat offers an Internet service in which the return channel is also handled via satellite-avoiding the need for any telephone charges. The service, which is marketed in German-speaking Europe by TechniSat, mainly targets business customers and presents itself as an alternative to conventional permanent Internet connections. Another target group is people working in remote areas without telephone lines, for example archaeologists during excavations. The hardware including the VSAT satellite dish which is needed for both receiving and sending the data is sold for DM4,998 plus VAT. The monthly fee, which includes 200 MB transfer volume, costs DM293 plus VAT. Each additional MB costs DM0.98. As VSAT terminals need permission in Germany, additional licence costs of DM58.67 during the first year and DM39.12 each following year apply. The VSAT fees are different in other countries. The satellite dish of 96 cm diameter has to be pointed at Eutelsat W3 (7 degrees East).

No limit

A high-speed Internet-via-satellite service which, in contrast to skyDSL and Web-Sat, doesnit set any traffic limit, was demonstrated by German eletronics company Galaxis and Internet provider UBcom AG during the Funkausstellung. The service, which offers connections up to 30 times faster than ISDN, can be accessed via a PC card developed by Galaxis, a small satellite dish pointed at Astra (19.2 degrees East) and an Internet connection through UBcom. Besides the cost of the PC card (DM399.90) there is only a monthly fee of DM29.99 and the cost for the telephone-line based return channel (DM0.06 per minute). The PC card can be used for receiving free-to-air radio and TV channels in MPEG-2/DVB and storing them as files on the PC as well. Galaxis and UBcom intend to market their service under the brand ë UB-Sky-Internet via Satellitei from this month through local dealers. Their offering is the result of a collaboration between Galaxis, SES and Luxembourg-based online service Europe Online.