Eutelsat Confirms That Satellite Can Deliver The Government’s Digital Britain Universal Service Commitment Today

The Tooway™ satellite consumer broadband service delivers 2Mbps today, 3.6Mbps from July 1 and 10Mbps in 2010

London, UK, 16 June 2009: Eutelsat Communications (Euronext Paris: ETL), Europe’s leading satellite operator, today welcomed the initiatives in the Government’s Digital Britain report and stated that its Universal Service Commitment to deliver a 2Mbps broadband service to all UK residents by 2012 can be delivered today using existing satellite technology.

“Eutelsat’s revolutionary satellite consumer broadband service, Tooway™, launched a 2Mbps service in the UK on April 30 this year with a recommended retail price of £29.99 per month and from July 1 speeds will increase further to 3.6Mbps at no added cost,” said Arduino Patacchini, Eutelsat Multimedia Director. “In line with the UK government’s commitment on Next Generation broadband availability we have already invested in a new satellite infrastructure which will be available later in 2010 and deliver speeds up to 10 Mbps.”

“Eutelsat welcomes the pro-active initiatives of the UK Government to build an inclusive digital society and extends an invitation to further discussions on how the 10% of the population without access to broadband can be connected quickly.”

Tooway™ is the first satellite two-way broadband service offering speeds and costs similar to ADSL. The service is based on Eutelsat’s satellite coverage, the commercial and infrastructure operating experience of Eutelsat’s subsidiary Skylogic, and SurfBeam technology developed by ViaSat. This technology used by Tooway™ comes to Europe after acquiring extensive experience on the North American market, where ViaSat already provides the equipment and network for over 400,000 homes with satellite broadband access fully independent from the terrestrial network. Today, Tooway™ is already serving customers in more than 20 European countries including the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Ireland, with additional countries across Europe rolling-out over the coming months.

The Tooway™ solution consists of a small satellite dish and a modem connected to the PC via the Ethernet, giving customers immediate broadband access following a simple installation. In addition, the Tooway™ service has the ability to deliver Voice over satellite telephony services and Direct-to-Home television using the Tooway™ dish. Tooway™ is delivered via a network of certified distributors whose contact details can be found at www.tooway.com.

In 2010, Eutelsat will expand the service with additional broadband access up to 10Mbps. These revolutionary broadband speeds will come from the launch of KA-SAT, the dedicated new satellite from Eutelsat specifically designed for broadband delivery in Europe. The satellite, which has the combined capacity of 40 traditional satellites, will enable Eutelsat to serve up to two million European homes at a similar speed, price and quality to terrestrial ADSL2 services.