WASHINGTON — Luxembourg-based satellite fleet operator SES on Oct. 1 signed an agreement with Swisscom to deliver high-speed Internet service via satellite to Swiss homes beyond the reach of terrestrial solutions that meet Switzerland’s speed requirements.
Swisscom provides national broadband access as part of Switzerland’s Universal Broadband Service Obligation. For the roughly 2 percent of Swiss homes where DSL broadband Internet access with the required minimum transmission rate is not possible, Swisscom will deploy SES’s Astra Connect service and upgrade the existing access lines.
Astra Connect uses Ka-band capacity on SES’s ASTRA 2E satellite, which launched in September 2013 aboard an International Launch Services Proton Breeze M rocket and entered service in the orbital arc of 28.2 degrees east in February.
SES said in a press release that the partnership with Swisscom stands to deliver high-quality Internet service to thousands of homes.
“We are pleased to be working with Swisscom by providing our satellite Internet service offerings,” Patrick Biewer, managing director of SES Broadband Services, said in the press release. “We are very proud about this new partnership, which is borne out of our capabilities to deliver and scale our services in accordance with the high quality standards set by Swisscom.”
