Google Glass, the new headset computer in the form of a pair of glasses, has raised important questions of etiquette for the user, according to Google’s own Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt.

Wearing ‘Glass’, users can photograph, video, research information and share whatever they are looking at using voice-activated commands. The marketing of its proposed functions reads well – take a cute photo of your kids without scrabbling for your camera or phone and share it immediately; view sat-nav style directions to a destination on the lenses in front of your eyes; and look up facts about wherever you are.

However, in reality, the scope of what the glasses could be used for is wide and brings up plenty of questions on security and etiquette.

From the mild cheating in a pub quiz (no more need to discreetly research answers under the table on your phone) to serious issues about the safety of children and the financial security of organisations, ‘Glass’ is going to need serious policing and regulation when it becomes available to the public at large, as opposed to only those currently testing the product in Silicon Valley.

This is without anyone asking how adequate mobile broadband capacity if going to be provisioned to deal with the numerous services Glass can offer.

As is stands, there is no locking device for security, so there’s currently no way to prevent someone from putting on your headset and reading your private email, or worse, taking a dodgy photo and tweeting it from your account. Given all the commands are voice activated, this seems a no-brainer addition to enhance security – and given the nature of the headset being a pair of glasses, a retina scan would be even better.

Eric Schmidt conceded:

“We’ll have to develop some new social etiquette. It’s obviously not appropriate to wear these glasses in situations where recording is not correct.”

But who draws the line of where and when recording is “correct”? Google themselves?

Given the inevitable links to social media channels and Google partners, would it be acceptable to instantaneously see the LinkedIn employment history of the person you’ve just met, while you’re still talking to them? And given the inevitable links to the advertisers that Google will court, would it be acceptable for webcams to link to Glass and monitor the web pages we are viewing while we’re wearing them? What can and can’t we record ourselves or have recorded by others?

It’s not necessarily a new issue – the problem is already with us with smartphones. A decade ago, unless the Boston marathon was being purposely filmed, there would most likely have been no footage of the explosions had they happened then. This year, when bombs did go off, we saw it from a dozen different angles within a few minutes of it happening because so many people were recording the finishing straight on their phones.

People have been arrested, relationships have ended and mass gatherings have been organised, all thanks to smartphone technology. If the technology in Google Glass, as physically tiny as it already is to be comfortably worn on a headset, gets any smaller, it will be as good as invisible, meaning that the majority of us will never know that we’re being filmed, photographed or recorded.

While CCTV already does this to some extent, giving that ability to individuals is potentially very worrying indeed.

As well as committing to benchmark the UK against other EU countries, the government also intends to ensure that all UK premises can experience download speeds of at least 2Mbit/s by 2015. In order to help achieve this, £530m has been allocated to stimulate commercial investment in the roll-out of high speed broadband across the country.

In response to this projection, The Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) and Broadband Delivery UK (BDUK) proposed a scorecard that can measure this development. The scorecard focuses on the UK’s position within the European Union’s five leading economies (EU5) – France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK.

The results have showed that the UK generally performs well. On all measures of coverage, take-up, usage, price and choice, the country ranks between third and first. It also reveals that the UK boasts the highest percentage (81%) of internet usage across the EU5.

While these results may be pleasing to many, if the UK is in fact going to achieve the best super-fast broadband by 2015, it has some work to do. Currently, it is only third among its peers when it comes to superfast broadband and a disappointing 65% nationwide coverage is less than that of both Germany and Spain. Despite having the highest percentage in residents using the internet and in online shoppers, the UK also has the highest percentage of people who have never been online, which possibly highlights the problems the UK has in rural areas.

With the aim of being number one in all categories and being able to provide coverage to 90% of the population, there are a number of key areas that need to be vastly improved over the next two years.

Moving forward, Ofcom has agreed to publish any future scorecards as part of its annual International Communications Market Report, assuming that sufficiently robust and comparable data is available.

Read more on the Broadband Scorecard on the OFCOM website.

However, in what security experts have described as the biggest cyber-attack of its kind in history, the internet actually slowed right across the world at the same time. The assault came about following a row between spam-fighting group Spamhaus and Dutch hosting firm Cyberbunker, whose retaliation attacks on each other ultimately affected everyone.

Although the problems appear to have been resolved for now, experts are worried that the row could escalate again and next time the results could be worse, affecting banking and email systems. Five national cyber police forces are investigating the attack, but the battle between the two conflicting groups is said to have erupted after Spamhaus blocked servers that are maintained by Cyberbunker.

Spamhaus is a non-profit organisation with bases in London and Geneva that aims to help email providers filter out spam and other unwanted content. In order to do this successfully, the group maintains a number of blocklists that contain a database of servers known for being used for malicious purposes.

It is thought that Cyberbunker, who states that it will host anything except for child pornography and terrorism related material, is angry at being blacklisted by the group and is now seeking revenge. They apparently used a tactic known as ‘Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) which floods the intended target with large amounts of traffic in an attempt to render it unreachable.

Spamhaus fortunately called in a few favours

Speaking about the severity of the attacks, which were peaking at 300 gigabits per second, Chief Executive for Spamhaus Steve Linford said:

“Our engineers are doing an immense job in keeping it up – this sort of attack would take down pretty much anything else.”

He said that the attack was strong enough to take down government internet infrastructure and had this been aimed at Downing Street, they would be completely offline. Mr Linford said that the reason why Spamhaus were able to cope is because it has highly distributed infrastructure in a number of countries. Additionally, the group is supported by many of the world’s largest internet companies and several of them, such as Google, made their resources available to help absorb the traffic.

Although Spamhaus appears to have the problem under control, one of the major issues of the attack was the knock-on effect on services around the world. Arbor Networks, a firm that specializes in protecting against DDoS attack said that this is the biggest attack they have ever seen.  Dan Holden, the company’s Director of Security Research commented:

“The largest DDoS attack that we have witnessed prior to this was in 2010 which was 100 Gbps. Obviously the jump from 100 to 300 is pretty massive. There’s certainly possibility for some collateral damage to other services along the way, depending on what that infrastructure looks like.”

Only time will tell if Cyberbunker succeeds in their mission to bring down Spamhaus, but with most web surfers worldwide claiming to have barely noticed there was an issue, it looks like the spam-fighters may have won this battle.

Flyaway kit in use on location in March 2013

Primarily developed as a tool for our broadcasting customers, NewsSpotter allows the customer to select their desired upload and download speed, for a selected period of time. The customer only pays for the bandwidth or time on the satellite that they need. The satellite capacity they access isn’t shared with anyone else, and so it enables the transit of huge files like HD video in super-quick time.

The world of news production has changed radically in the last five years. On the reporting side, electronic Field Production Cameras are increasingly lightweight, compact and cheap. They allow shooting in High Definition at a fraction of the cost that Broadcasters and News Agencies had to face only few years ago.

NewsSpotter adds a new dimension the equation as it similarly massively reduces transmission costs over existing Ku satellite uplink facilities, as well as providing previously un-experienced speeds over smaller, lighter and cheaper equipment.

Satellite news gathering (SNG) has been characterised by the familiar outside broadcast trucks with their huge roof mounted antennas, miles of cables and teams of engineers. NewsSpotter does away with most of this equipment and expense, with a simple kit that costs less than £1000 and fits in the boot of a small car.

What’s even more exciting is that Tariam is now releasing to its customers its NewsSpotter Online Booking portal. This means customers and news teams can logon using their background internet service and book dedicated satellite uplink slots precisely when they need them, for as long as they need them 24/7/365. Customers can select the specific download and upload capacity they need, and only pay for the capacity that they actually need to get their work done. Tariam is the only company that offers this service, which has been developed specifically for its major news gathering customers like the BBC, CNN and Fox News.

In addition Tariam has developed off-internet routing for its Enterprise and broadcasting NewsSpotter customers where required (More information in Ka Band Professional Services). This means that traffic can be passed across the satellite link straight into the customers own data centre or network, via our interconnect at Telehouse North. This facility is especially useful where very large amounts of data are required to be transmitted as it means the customer avoids the need for a VPN with its associated costs and resource overhead. This means faster transmission times and the data just where the customer needs it, when they need it.

See our own Selwyn Petterson interviewed about NewsSpotter at Broadcast Show live in Nov 2012

Selwyn Petterson, Tariam’s Director of Broadcasting Services said

“We’re really pushing the boundaries of what can be achieved in terms of satellite broadband for this special group of customers. NewsSpotter allows service levels, functionality and cost savings that couldn’t have been envisaged when we first entered this sector of the business.

“We’re proud that our NewsSpotter services have already been well proven in the field, bringing back words and pictures from some of the biggest news stories of the last 12 months including the fall of Gaddafi in Libya, and the civil unrest in Greece at the end of last summer.

“The new booking system gives broadcasting customers a greater level of autonomy in the field, helping to really have control of their satellite uplink services without having to bring along a team of engineers to manage the satellite side.”

Up and running

Councils were prevented from initiating the project until the competition hurdle had been cleared in Europe. Now that has happened, the finances are freed up and planning can begin in earnest to get the country’s broadband network up and running. A rural fund has been set aside to ensure that the more remote parts of the country get an equal slice of the digital pie, and to that end the government has allocated £530million to boost rural broadband. The Government has been clear to point out that not all locations will benefit from preferred technologies like fibre, but instead will be brought online using a “patch work of interconnecting technologies”, mainly satellite broadband.

But BDUK, the organisation set up to oversee the process, has come under attack for being slow to react to both the needs of rural broadband users, and the opportunities now presented for investment in infrastructure. To date, only five council contracts have been approved, so customers in North Yorkshire, Surrey, Lancashire, Wales and Rutland may soon be enjoying comparable download and upload speeds as their urban neighbours. However, other parts of rural England are still stuck in the dial-up dark ages.

The initial idea was that councils would be swamped with bids from independent providers once the money was allocated. However, only BT and Fujitsu have taken the initiative, putting them well ahead of broadband provision rivals across the country. Eventually, even Fujitsu pulled out, leaving BT holding the digital fort and making them the only bidders. The reasoning, many embittered councils felt, was that their demand levels simply weren’t high enough for providers such as Fujitsu. With BT’s basic infrastructure already in place across much of the county, it was inevitable that the biggest provider would also be the primary (and in many cases the only) bidder for contracts.

‘Satisfactory…’

But not everyone was enamoured with BT, and Cumbria council initially rejected BT’s bid. However, as there seems to be little chance that anyone on an independent white steed is going to come riding to the rescue of Cumbrian internet damsels in distress, the BT bid has been re-submitted and accepted, albeit somewhat reluctantly. (The bid was described rather petulantly by a council spokesperson as ‘satisfactory’ – hardly a ringing endorsement…)

BT has also come under fire for inflating prices. A leaked document accused the company of charging more and more for rural broadband cabinets – an accusation the company strenuously denies. The resulting battle, where statistics were used as heavy artillery on both sides, has led to critics of the overall process calling for greater levels of transparency in how the bids are constructed.

They claim that this will enable everyone involved to ascertain whether the costs involved are justified or not, and whether the broadband rollout is actually going according to plan. Whether that transparency really would clarify the issue any more than has already been done is hard to say, but those who still point an accusing finger at BT for malodorous practices won’t be satisfied until that happens.

Increased broadband connectivity made possible by Ka band satellites

The new kid on the satellite block and favourite son of Ku band is Ka band which, with the aid of Eutelsat’s state of the art Ka Sat satellite, offers the fastest speed, the highest capacity and the most competitively priced services yet. The Ka band is the ideal support to current and future communication hardware, and as demand for broadband increases Ka band is quickly moving to the top of the satellite technology classroom.

Although at the time of writing Ka band users represents a surprisingly small 10% of UK satellite subscribers, it is worth considering Ka band’s versatility and ability to provide broadband coverage for areas with poor or no broadband connection.

With a high percentage of UK users now opting for either satellite or mobile connectivity, even if wired and fibre optic broadband is available, it’s apparent that satellite broadband is a workable solution that will ensure that everyone gets a fair bite of the broadband cherry. A recent report suggests that the number of broadband subscribers worldwide is now more than 600 million.

Ka- and technology and what it does

Ka band is the perfect technological soldier, running tirelessly across space and time to bring connectivity to all areas as well as offering steerable beams which can home in on high-capacity areas such as major cities and towns.

The advantage to the user of Ka band is that it enables satellite operators to re-use frequencies in adjoining satellite beams in fast succession meaning that they can move ten times as much data for the same amount of, clearly expensive, space capacity. This means services have come down dramatically in price, and speeds have gone up by a similar proportion.

The super fast Ka band brings faster speeds, higher bandwidths and flexible payloads to meet all demands. The Ka band will not clog up as does the existing Ku band and with its larger and more efficient transponders Ka band technology uses terminal equipment that is cost effective to both maintain and run. Ka band is more aesthetically pleasing too, as it uses smaller and less obtrusive antennas.

This new satellite solution allows an existing exterior dish to be connected to run your entire home or business networks by linking directly to the satellite. No telephone line is required.

Give the people what they want

Clearly figures show that people want the quick and reliable connection that is broadband, whether it comes from wire or satellite. However as the Ka band works its magic, it is likely that an increasing number of users will move over to satellite delivery systems, abandoning the underground broadband as less efficient and slower, despite the advances made with fibre optics.

With a steady charge of circa £18/pm for connectivity, and significantly higher upload speeds that most consumer wired services, satellite broadband is picking up not only customers outside the traditional broadband areas but also those who prefer the faster connectivity of satellite broadband services and at a lower price than many land-based delivery systems. Whereas previously satellite broadband was the more expensive smaller brother of its land-locked relative, now satellite is competing both on delivery and on price.

Since the launch of the mighty Ka band  across Europe and in the US homes and businesses users have quickly subscribed to the space age satellite technology, making satellite broadband one of the fastest growing telcom innovations on the planet.

In short the Ka- and satellite broadband brings a super efficient and eco-friendly technology to homes and businesses across the world.

Whilst it seems easy to understand the logic of bringing any extra broadband capacity online if it helps the raise the countries overall broadband speeds, the issue with dark fibre is a complicated one. The fibre capacity in question follows the path of the main “broadband motorway system” of the UK, joining together large towns, cities and data centres.

Sadly it wouldn’t in fact help the day to day broadband speeds of most rural or semi-urban areas which are usually restricted by the poor copper infrastructure between local telephone exchanges and end users premises. Satellite broadband is however now able to help these rural broadband not-spots with speeds of up to 18 Mbps.

What’s dark fibre got to do with fast broadband for end users?

Dark fibre is a commonly used term for fibre optic cabling that’s in situ, but remains unused. Basically, this cable is not connected to any type of transmission device or end users. The practice stems from the cheap cost of the fibre optic cabling itself, which is much less than the cost of installation and labour. BT, when originally installing fibre optic cables and routing the broadband super-highway, created additional conduits and channel ducts that would make extra broadband connectivity easy in the future.

They also laid miles and miles of spare fibre cabling that could be used if the cabling became faulty or needed replacing, theoretically saving the company significant future resources. This little innovation was cleverly sprung at the time and now gives BT the grandfather rights of UK broadband.

BT is understandably reticent about granting its broadband competitors access to this infrastructure which it had the foresight to invest in, but there’s increasing discord amongst BT’s competitors who claim that BT’s reluctance to allow other telecoms companies access to the dark fibre is holding back the UK’s broadband development.

Universities learn fast

Many city-based learning institutions have seen the advantage of dark fibre option and have amassed their own spare fibre optic capacity. Private sector companies and railways also want to get in on the act and if BT are forced to sell or lease their dark fibre then this would lead to potential improvements in commercial broadband services at least for Enterprise and Government level users, and also allow for pricing stability without a dip in service standards.

Status quo prevails

At the time of writing however, there has been no indication that OFCOM will force BT to release its dark fibre anytime soon; BT’s argument has always been that its business model would be compromised if the company had to lease out its dark fibre to other telecoms companies.

Nothing is forever

Nevertheless the Mexican standoff may not last for ever if the politicians and the EU get their way. There is growing support for the idea of forcing BT’s hand, particularly amongst very large companies who want to connect big regional offices and manufacturing sites together cheaply, and today’s modern office networks do need massive capacity particularly with so much voice traffic moving to data hungry VoIP systems.

The utilisation of dark fibre is clearly the way forward as the amount of unused broadband cabling is inestimable and will, when and if released by BT, allow for some clever innovations and future telecom product opportunities.

In a nutshell BT will, in all likelihood, eventually be compelled to rent out at least some of their dark fibre. When this occurs the commercial enterprises at the forefront of telecommunications are likely to take the largest bite out of the BT fibre optic apple. This will hopefully allow an improved broadband service for UK business and domestic users alike. In an ideal world, the enforced renting out of dark fibre may also spur the long-standing BT to provide its own customers with an equally unrivaled and cost effective service – something that a lot of dissatisfied UK customers in slow and not-spots would be grateful for.

“…have the best super-fast broadband network in Europe by 2015, with a minimum download speed of two megabits per second for virtually every community.”

Broadband pilot schemes in rural areas

Four national pilot schemes were chosen in 2010 to test a new strategy for delivering broadband in the most rural and hard to reach areas. They are to be the first locations ‘to be connected at speeds only usually found in densely populated urban areas’. The locations chosen were Cumbria, the Golden Valley (Herefordshire), the Highlands and Islands (Scotland) and North Yorkshire.

Unfortunately, it seems that the latter pilot scheme in North Yorkshire has hit a snag, after a major report was withdrawn and sent back to the drawing board. The reason being that it had a number of key omissions – most notably that it had failed to classify farms as businesses.

‘There’s no point on acting on a report if it’s not right’

Anyone living in the countryside knows that farms constitute a major proportion of rural businesses, both in the direct employment that they provide for local communities and in the secondary support industries that rely on a healthy agricultural economy. However, this fact was apparently lost upon planners from the local authority. The document was rejected by Harrogate Borough Council, prompting fears of delays in the scheme, which was first set in motion over a year ago.

“There’s no point acting on a report if it is not right,” Councillor Margaret Atkinson told the Yorkshire Post. “We are better having some delay and having it right then acting on it and having it wrong. But I feel like this has been dragging on for a long time.”

Why do farms need fast broadband?

Councillor Helen Flynn meanwhile expressed dismay at the omission: “It seemed that farms were not being classified as businesses and they should have been. Agriculture is key to our area… Many farms are now diversifying economically and selling their products on the Internet, as well as having to complete more and more forms online. Reliable, fast broadband to farms must therefore be a district area-wide priority.”

It’s ironic that a report intended to facilitate greater inclusivity of broadband Internet failed to include a substantially large rural demographic in its plans. Councillor Flynn makes the point that farmers have more forms to complete online, and this is a perfect example of how broadband connectivity is fast becoming essential for all businesses and individuals in the digital age. Farmers more than most may have an image of being more ‘traditional’, and this may be one reason why they were overlooked.

So the report goes back to the drawing board. Many in rural areas that are currently lacking high-speed broadband connectivity may be wondering when the talk will stop and the dream of high speed broadband connection, no matter how it’s delivered into homes and businesses across the country, finally turns into a reality. But at least they can take heart that at least one major flaw has been ironed out in the planning stages, and that farming, the backbone of the rural economy, will be taken seriously once again.

“The Conservatives in Lancashire are obsessed with rural broadband, on which they are spending £32 million,” said Jones in Parliament at the end of May. This investment is itself part of the wider UK push for high speed broadband in rural areas, and is funded by Broadband Delivery UK (part of the department of Culture, Media and Sport), Lancashire County Council and the European Regional Development Fund.

Is fast broadband an upper-class luxury?

So why is Mr Jones against the idea of Lancashire having greater broadband access? According to him, only 4,000 out of 80,000 of his constituents would see any benefit from the development. He went on to say: “That £32 million will mean faster Internet shopping for millionaires; it will not generate business in rural communities.”

Jones contends that there will be no benefit to ordinary people in the area, or to local businesses.

“It will not provide additional businesses or create jobs. It will certainly not mean that businesses will be opened down country lanes that take two hours to drive down and are a long way from the urban centres. This is just about faster Internet shopping for wealthy people.”

Who benefits from broadband?

So, how much truth is there in what Graham Jones MP says? Well assuming that the countryside isn’t populated solely by wealthy landowners who flog their servants to crank the dial-up connection faster in order to purchase exquisite Faberge eggs, rural individuals and organisations should be able to derive a number of opportunities from the development of broadband infrastructure in Lancashire.

For one thing, it could make it possible for people living in rural communities to work from home rather than having to commute to the ‘urban centres’ which Jones helpfully points out are a long way from these rural villages. This could mean telecommuting to perform a job they already have, or it could even mean being able to set up their own online business from home.

Already-established businesses will also benefit from broadband access, enabling them to put up and manage websites to promote themselves, and even offer online ordering services. It will also provide businesses with access to the cloud, video conferencing and other facilities as needed.

Children of school age and college students in rural areas will be able to gain greater access to the Internet, assisting them with their studies, as well as job searching and other activities in an increasingly online world.

Or maybe Jones’ rural constituents should simply up and move to the cities, because as he says: “In most cases, the urban areas in Lancashire are already connected to fast broadband – there is simply no need for this investment.” It appears that Mr Jones has a rather limited insight into the workings of the digital age and just how important it is to everyone, regardless of ‘class’. Or perhaps he just has a very low opinion of his constituents…

They are the first community in the country to receive a community funded and complete fibre optic service with speeds of up to 100Mbps, making a huge difference for business owners and householders alike. Ignoring the doomsayers at Virgin and BT who said it was not cost-effective, Rutland Telecom has teamed up with a fibre network builder to install the service.

It all started when villagers, tired of struggling on speeds of less than 1Mbps approached the Internet Service Provider to find out what would be involved in providing a faster service.

Fast broadband helps build solid rural communities

The aim is to build a rural business community that will not only bring wealth back into what is traditionally a poor area, but also encourage technology-based business to expand, thus providing greater employment opportunity for the community and young people in particular. Fast broadband in rural areas has far deeper implications than just allowing householders to download films and TV programs more quickly. It could be the thing that ensures the continuation of some communities in years to come by encouraging industry and businesses to set up in rural locations. This means that young people can find gainful and well-paid employment in their home villages and keep their communities alive.

The Rutland project has seen more than 40 out of the 65 homes in Hambleton subscribe to the ultra-fast service, making it both financially viable and encouraging others to join in.

Significant changes but who pays the cost?

The repercussions of ultra-fast broadband are already having an effect. The local hotel and restaurant The Finch’s Arms has seen a ‘significant change to our clientele’ as a result. Rather than the usual tourists, they are now seeing working executives and business people staying at the hotel, purely on the strength of high speed connectivity.

While community-based broadband projects have been abject failures in some parts of the country, the Rutland model has proved that if you market it right and get enough people involved, it can work. Garner the support and the delivery suppliers will see it as a viable option. But should local communities have to dip into their own pockets to pay for ultra-fast broadband – something that the government has said should be a ‘right’ for everyone in the UK?

Unfortunately, the answer is probably yes, particularly in remote locations that are proving to be expensive and logistically difficult to join up to a national fibre optic network. The Government’s funds for rural broadband are limited, and have been seriously delayed yet again after the European Commission blew a foul on the bidding process for companies offering to help with the scheme.

Rural communities need to join the information super-highway now if they’re not to be left behind in terms of job opportunities, education and just plain participating fully in the modern world. Cheap alternative technologies like satellite broadband can deliver truly fast broadband internet speeds to any location for a very reasonable cost immediately. A modest personal investment could be all that’s stopping some communities from transforming their future and leaping the digital divide.

Where you live is often dictated by your job. While it would be nice to move to a little cottage in the country, the fact that your work is based in the centre of the city means that trips to the countryside are reserved for family holidays and snatched weekends away.

But with the expansion of the Internet and technological developments such as ‘cloud computing’ and video conferencing, and with satellite broadband overage that delivers super-fast broadband speeds, working from home is now becoming much more of a reality for people.

Flexible home working is also key to ensuring that women and disabled people get an equal chance in the workplace. Working from home dramatically cuts the cost of childcare and can mean the difference for many women between returning to a job they love or staying at home with the kids. Allowing home workers gives companies access to pools of resource and skill that wouldn’t be available otherwise.

Boosting productivity, reducing stress

The problem though is that big business isn’t recognising the benefits of flexible working, and they are certainly not putting in the infrastructure to support what is an incredibly popular idea amongst workers.

Despite the fact that the technology exists to support remote working, it is not being taken advantage of – and that could eventually start to hit productivity and, consequently, bottom line profits.

A study of 1,500 workers from 15 European countries and commissioned by Microsoft found that 56% of flexible workers believed they were more productive when working from home, with 48% of them saying that the reason behind this was because they could fit their work around their personal commitments.

A whopping 73% of those polled felt that their lives would improve with flexible working, but only one third of businesses actually provided guidelines on flexible working.

Ironically, it’s the smaller companies that are more open to the idea of remote working. The same study found that approximately a quarter of small businesses (less than 50 employees) had employees who regularly worked away from the office. But only 9% of staff in companies with more than 500 employees did the same.

Putting the broadband pieces in place

What needs to happen now is that a good infrastructure has to be put in place to facilitate flexible working – and that means greater connectivity across the board. Satellite broadband is a key component of that, and could drive a fundamental change in the way we work in decades to come, particularly for workers who live in remote communities.

Technology plays a vital role in the realisation of a new way of working, and remote workers will need the right support from their IT departments, as well as fast, reliable connectivity. Satellite broadband is part of the solution. To implement this process, there also has to be a mind-shift in the way businesses regard remote working.

As transportation costs spiral upwards, the daily commute could theoretically become a thing of the past for many workers. The businesses that are forward-thinking enough to adopt a more flexible attitude to working practices could also be the ones who see their productivity and therefore their profitability increase.

Satellite broadband for home workers is available across Europe via our Tooway service.

Their grand plan was to provide broadband to remote communities using WiMAX and satellite broadband connectivity leased from Sat giants Globalstar. But Globalstar couldn’t fulfil the requirements laid down by Open Range and the FCC, leaving OR without a spectrum.

Even a last-minute deal with LightSquared was a day late and a dollar short. OR couldn’t keep the federal wolves from the door, and are now out of both cash and options.

Company assets are estimated to be worth around $114million, and the Chapter 11 agreement will keep some semblance of order in the OR halls while they try and untangle the financial mess. On the plus side, OR’s debts total $110million, suggesting that the company could still be sold off as a going concern.

Alternatively, if a buyer doesn’t want to take on the risk (in what is still a very sluggish and wary market), OR could be broken up for spares. The latter is far more likely – the company made a loss of $50.4million last year and with sales on the books of just $1.7million, it’s going to be one brave entrepreneur that takes on this particular leviathan.

What went wrong?

The problem was that OR offered connectivity on frequencies that were supposed to be used only for satellite communications. Both OR and LightSquared thought that this wasn’t fair, and successfully lobbied the FCC to relax those restrictions. But OR made one fatal mistake – they didn’t own the satellite bands in question, Globalstar did.

So when they failed to meet the requirements the FCC pulled the plug, leaving OR nowhere to go, despite a last-gasp attempt to salvage a deal with LightSquared.

It’s a sad reflection on the situation that, bottom line, the failure really wasn’t Open Reach’s fault. Globalstar failed to get the satellite launches they needed, and with their first generation satellites starting to fail and even the second-generation birds having problems; it seems that OR has been a victim of its partner’s misfortune.

The company had high hopes of bringing satellite broadband connection to millions of customers in some of the most remote locations on the planet. Ironically, they were initially not that interested in going down the satellite route. But a juicy government loan of $267million and a further $100million in raised equity from investment band JPMorgan Chase soon changed their minds. We’re guessing they are regretting that decision today…

OR is now reduced to a paltry 20,000 customers and has laid off 122 staff. All that is keeping the business in operation right now is a skeleton staff of 48 and a wing and a prayer. Hope still shines eternal that a buyer will be found for the assets who may be tempted to breathe new life into the company, but the prospects for that happening any time soon are, frankly, remote.

In the past, Defra has been criticised in some circles for talking the talk but not walking the walk when it comes to supporting rural investment. But their latest plan, entitled the Rural Development Program for England, seems to be a bit more than simple rhetoric.

The plan is being drawn up with the support of other government departments including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, local communities and Local Government.

With three heavyweight sections of the government wading into the fray, expectations are of course high. The Rural Economy Growth Review is the cornerstone of the project. But while it goes into detail about how regeneration can be encouraged by promoting tourism, diversification and even converting old farm buildings, one of the biggest barriers to rural growth is given only a passing mention – broadband communications.

Bringing the countryside into the broadband 21^st Century

Time and again, reports are released showing that one of the biggest problems facing rural businesses is poor broadband connectivity.

The number of Internet not-spots and areas of very slow broadband speed mean that businesses that want to go digital and to operate using cloud based services are hampered to such an extent that it impacts on their ability to grow. Defra understands the problems, but whether their solutions and budget are adequate to tackle one of the biggest barriers facing rural businesses is being questioned.

They do intend to throw £20million of taxpayers money at the problem via the Rural Community Broadband Fund, but considering how extensive the problem is, this seems unlikely to make a huge impact. Defra is wisely investing in alternative technologies like satellite broadband via locally focused schemes like the Rural Connection operating in Devon and Somerset.

As major industries feel the full force of the economic winter we’re all currently going through, the importance of the rural economy cannot be underestimated. Across the UK, it’s the thousands of small businesses that will drive any type of recovery we experience over the next few years.

To be able to do that they must have the same level of communications access as their city cousins. The problem of broadband access in the countryside is one that has to be addressed quickly. Whether it’s a single solution or, more likely, via a combination of delivery systems that include satellite broadband, fibre and others.

The Review has its high points. But if the start-ups and SMEs are to achieve their full potential, they have to be given access to the world stage via the Internet. To do that, they have to have coverage that is cost effective, scalable, fast, and most importantly available now. Satellite broadband ticks all these boxes and more.

Businesses should not be penalised because of their geographic location, and the question of broadband coverage, while it may not be a ‘sexy’ headline grabber, is still one of the biggest concerns for business owners.

Whether they’re in the food industry, tourism or just a one-man band running an engineering workshop in the middle of nowhere, that fast broadband link to the outside world is vital for rural businesses.

Designed to operate in the harshest of briny environments, Pilot utilises Iridium Open Port services to deliver broadband connectivity and three independent phone lines, even if the weather starts to turn nasty. The phased-array antenna operates through a small, lightweight housing that’s electronically steerable and robust enough to cope with almost any conditions.

The connection delivers data speeds of up to 134Kbps. The fact that it also supports three independent phone lines is key, as it means vital data on weather, routes or other safety information can be relayed directly via the broadband connection, even while a crew member is making a satellite phone call. This compact yet powerful unit provides yet another link in the ever-stronger Iridium chain of support.

Whilst many other satellite platforms (like those based on Inmarsat’s BGAN platform) offer near global coverage, the key selling point of the Iridium network has always been its totally global reach, including the polar regions.

Reliable satellite connectivity means safety at sea

Not only does Iridium Pilot deliver the goods regarding satellite broadband and telephony connectivity, but it’s truly robust too. An inbuilt firewall makes traffic management easy and protects on-board computers and systems from intrusions and virus attacks in the same way a land based set-up would.

For users with higher capacity requirements, it also has a clever bulk configuration capability to manage large volumes of data so that the system doesn’t slow to a crawl. The antenna also comes with the well-established Iridium Global Service Program, which includes a standard five-year limited warranty.

But perhaps most importantly, the device will be compatible with Iridium’s next generation satellite constellation, NEXT. This is scheduled for deployment in 2015 and is the largest commercial space program currently in operation. This means that any ship carrying Iridium Pilot will be supported right through to 2020 and beyond.

As the system will give truly global coverage for shipping, it won’t matter where a vessel is on the ocean, connectivity is guaranteed. It could also go a long way to maintaining a happy crew, as ship-to-shore calls won’t be limited to off-peak times.

The advantages for the safety of vessels, particularly considering the rising problem of piracy in some parts of the world, is also considerable. In the case of a problem, or medical emergency, valuable information can be rapidly relayed to on-shore rescue services irrespective of whether the vessel is within range of VHF communications.

Iridium Pilot marks the next step in satellite-based maritime communications and is sure to set the benchmark for all other products. Suitable for both large and small vessels, its potential applications are almost unlimited. It will also reassure those who risk their lives on the open sea that they are only a phone call away from contact with dry land, loved ones or emergency help.

A UK wide failure of their ADSL broadband and FTH cable service left millions of customers, both residential and commercial, with no Internet access at all for many hours.

The blackout occurred right in the middle of the peak surfing time in the late afternoon and was apparently the result of a routing hardware fault. Virgin refused to say how many of its 5 million customers were affected but many industry blogs claimed that it was a nationwide issue. Virgin Media’s broadband network tends to focus on major towns and cities and doesn’t offer much coverage in rural areas.

Bad timing

In a double-whammy of ‘bad timing’, the outage comes just days after Virgin announced that it would apparently be turning up the speed on its broadband service. While it might have been frustrating for domestic users, the impact to businesses would have been substantially more.

Smart businesses know just how much a big outage like this can affect day to day operations, even if it’s just a short-term blip. Disruption in communications between customers and suppliers is inevitable, as is stress and frustration for staff. 

For mission critical systems and sites, the option of a satellite broadband back-up that runs parallel to the main telecoms infrastructure is a truly worthwhile option. While this involves a small initial outlay, it would certainly save money and embarrassment in the event of an ‘outage’. It’s always wise to have a ‘plan B’ just in case plan A proves to be a little less secure than you first thought. (More about satellite broadband for fail-over.)

Try turning it off and on again…!

Virgin Media issued the usual apology that’s standard practice in these situations, a spokesperson saying that:

“Our customers may have experienced some problems getting online yesterday evening. Our engineers quickly fixed the problem and service was restored by 8pm. We apologise for the inconvenience.”

However, customers who tried to contact Virgin reported that they could not get through because of the high volume of calls to its customer service lines. The great British sense of humour kicked in, and many customers vented their frustration on Twitter (once the system came back online, of course) by suggesting that Virgin should ‘try turning it off and on again’.

Without the slightest hint of irony, Virgin then immediately advised customers experiencing problems to do precisely that – suggesting that ‘powering down your router for five minutes and then turning it back on’ would help.

While Virgin Media’s does have fair reputation as a provider of high speed broadband that’s (usually!) fairly stable, it just goes to show that even the mightiest fall occasionally, and that broadband outages are still prevalent. Once again, and particularly for businesses, the option of a satellite broadband system is one that can fill in those ‘blips’ in supply and keep your business running, when all around you is falling apart.

We’ve come to rely on technology so much in the 21st Century that when the machine stops, as E.M. Forster once wrote, we are practically helpless and cannot continue to function in our daily lives. Perhaps as our reliance on technology becomes ever more deeply ingrained in our lives and businesses, it really is time to start thinking seriously about that ‘plan B’.

The government has set a goal that every home should have access to at least 2Mbits/second and have allowed a budget of £530million to make that happen. But the money isn’t going to stretch to fibre optic cabling to every home, and Hughes believe that satellite broadband is the key. Government officials believe that 4G will fill in some of the network, but continuing concern over the availability and data costs means that other technology is essential to ensure that the coverage is 100% effective, particularly in rural areas where the cost of cabling would decimate the limited budget.

Houston, we have a problem…

Satellite providers feel that they’re being ignored, despite offering what they believe can be a cost effective and efficient service to every home, no matter how remote.

Hughes Network System vice president Chris O’Dell admits to being totally frustrated at the lack of consideration the satellite provision is being given.

Chris said

“Ofcom said in August that 14% of UK homes couldn’t get access at 2Mbits/sec and I find that frustrating when, if you look, we can already offer 100% coverage using satellite.”

According to O’Dell, Ka band satellite services can deliver 10 Mbits/sec downloads and 4 Mbits/sec uploads with “no disturbance and no fibre rollout – all you need is line of sight of the sky”.

Some consumer groups have played down the satellite option because of a less than perfect experience with satellite based systems when they came in 10 years ago. The latest generation Ka band based systems however are in a different league and offer blistering performance with no geographical discrimination or waiting for BT.

Satellite price worries unfounded

However, at a time when consumers are particularly focused on how much services like broadband cost, one thing that could scupper the satellite argument is the price. Some consumers believe that satellite is more expensive than ADSL, but this simply isn’t the case anymore.

O’Dell explains

“The [monthly] packages depend on the service providers and virtual network operators, but they are around £25 for the lower ones”.

Europe wide satellite broadband providers like Toowaydirect are now offering FREE hardware and connection on some of their Tooway satellite services, with airtime subscriptions starting at £24.99 inc VAT.

There are also some areas of the UK that are benefiting from subsidies. All of Wales, and some areas of Devon and Somerset currently have grant schemes operating. The hope is that the UK will take a leaf out of Europe’s book and spread that subsidy net a little wider to cover larger areas of rural Britain.

“In Europe, people recognise that satellite is a complimentary technology for rural areas and notspots,” says Chris O’Dell. “Things are happening, but obviously we’d like to see that opened up more in the UK.”

Stealing metal isn’t a ‘victimless’ crime – it results in disruption to thousands of businesses and ordinary homes every year. Last year a quarter of Hertfordshire’s broadband subscribers lost their connections at one time or another due to telecoms cable theft. Thieves are running huge risks of electrocution, injury and even death by cutting live cables. Why? Because the surge in international metal prices has meant that, as far as the criminal fraternity is concerned, there’s gold, silver, copper and stainless steel in them thar hills…

Satellite broadband – true resilience

Statistics show that if businesses lose their broadband connection due to cable theft, they might be offline for 14 -21 days. If your business was affected, how would you, your customers and suppliers cope? What steps have you taken to provide broadband resilience in the event of an outage?

Some businesses take the precaution of installing a secondary broadband connection. But if that operates over the same infrastructure coming to your premises that your main broadband connection does, that doesn’t offer much protection against problems. Only a fully independent connection, with different points of entry and connecting via a different core technology like satellite broadband will offer you a high degree of redundancy.

Complacency breeds contempt

Thefts from the country’s gas, electricity and transport networks have shot up. Ironically, some thieves are using the Internet to locate the most accessible bounty. In March 2011, six men were convicted of cutting cables that they’d located using the web. Google maps was never intended for this kind of online search, but certainly proved useful for the cable thieves. Their theft cost the taxpayer nearly £1million in repair costs and 322 hours of train delays.

But despite the rising cost of metals on the international markets, the net value of the scrap stolen is relatively small, and the thieves themselves are what could be regarded as small-scale amateurs, often motivated by drug dependency. Their actions, however, have monumental consequences for businesses, particularly those who are affected downstream by a cut broadband cable or a stolen telephone line. Complacency in the scrap metal industry has led to many merchants turning a blind eye when it comes to asking where their customers are ‘acquiring’ their scrap metal from.

Police taking metal theft seriously

The police are now taking metal theft much more seriously, particularly since the theft of copper gas pipes last March resulted in a major explosion that put lives at risk. The British Transport Police are leading the way, setting up task forces and specially co-ordinated operations to prevent this dangerous trend from taking hold. The gas and electricity industries are looking at replacing valuable copper piping with cheaper alternatives, while councils across the country are marking their metal with ‘Smartwater’, a method of coating the metal with an indelible marker that is visible under UV light.

The telephony industry is also taking the matter seriously and is making steps to protect their customers’ connections from thieves. The British Metals Recycling Association, however, feels that these measures, including forcing scrap metal merchants to stop paying for metal in cash and to create a paper trail that can be easily followed, are counter-productive and will not combat metal theft.

The bottom line for customers is that any metal theft, no matter how insignificant it may seem initially, can and does have major consequences, particularly for small businesses that rely on broadband connectivity. Remote locations, determined, organised gangs and scrap metal merchants who are prepared to ‘look the other way’ are effectively sabotaging business’s attempts to survive the current economic crisis in favour of a quick buck. Metal theft has moved on from ‘nicking the lead off the church roof’ and now poses a serious threat to both lives and the financial stability of the country.

Tariam Satellite Broadband and Toowaydirect offer a wide variety of back-up and fail-over broadband connection for all sizes business and budget. Contact us for more information.

The UK is one of twenty one EU member states that have been formally approached by the European Commission (EC) and asked to urgently get on board with the European agenda. Under European Commission plans, a continent wide mobile satellite service is scheduled to be launched in May 2011. However, the UK has yet to draw up the statutory instrument needed to come into line with broader European satellite broadband agenda.

E C Vice-President for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes said member states should “urgently” take the steps necessary to allow the introduction of the new mobile satellite services throughout the EU.

Miss Kroes said

“They have an important role to play in providing innovative services to businesses and citizens across Europe, including in rural or remote areas.”

She also stated that the implementation of this technology meant that satellite broadband access would be available and usable by more people.

Kroes’ letter also targeted Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.

The new mobile satellite services will operate in tandem with existing terrestrial networks to provide a seamless new hybrid network that will work anywhere in Europe, giving smart phones and laptops much needed extra flexibility on the move. The services also pave the way for mobile TV and more advanced vehicular services.

The new services are to be offered by Solaris Mobile, a collaboration between European satellite owners Eutelsat and SES Astra. Solaris has partnered with Alcatel-Lucent to provide the ground network integration and infrastructure.

The services will operate in a dedicated part of the S-Band spectrum in the 2 GHz range which allows small form factor handsets, and offers good indoor penetration and atmospheric propagation, and excellent high speed performance with low power transmission.

In 2009 the Eutelsat W2A satellite, carrying Solaris Mobile’s S-band payload, was launched from Baikonur in Kazakhstan and Solaris was awarded 30MHZ of paired Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) spectrum rights by the European Commission to operate satellite & terrestrial networks in all 27 EU member states.

The rapid approach of the May 2011 service launch date seems to have caught the UK Government napping, but the arrival of these universal services will also act as a wakeup call for the existing UK mobile phone networks who have had the market to themselves for the last 25 years. The arrival of some competition is sure to improve the quality and reduce the cost of 3G services.

Successive harsh winters and an increasing reliance on mission critical, web based applications have led the UK Government to be increasingly persistent in their recommendations.

The Cabinet Office has been briefing businesses about the importance of establishing true resilience in their broadband communications or face the loss making consequences. Satellite broadband is highlighted as one of the only ways that businesses can establish true redundancy from the main UK telecoms infrastructure.

Many small businesses believe that buying two or three wired broadband connections from different suppliers gives them a degree of protection against problems. Some firms have also considered 3G and GSM. However, most business broadband connections in the UK are routed over the core of one operator, BT, and travel to user’s premises over the same set of cables and trunking in the road. If the local exchange goes down, its also likely that cellular masts in the locality will also be effected.

Satellite broadband connections allow companies to independently maintain continuity and critical internet, VPN and voice connectivity when their main terrestrial connections fail.

Around half of small businesses don’t have a considered plan in place to deal with communications infrastructure failure, although many IT professionals will admit that outages are common and cause massive disruption.

The 2011 Disaster Preparedness Survey out this week from software giant Symantec, shows that 41% of firms surveyed admitted they’d never considered putting together a plan together, and 40% of didn’t consider disaster preparedness to be a priority.

52% have put together plans in the last six months. However, only 28% have actually tested their recovery plans, a critical component of actually being prepared for a potential disaster.

According to the survey, half of SME’s that have implemented disaster recovery plans only did so after experiencing an outage. When they occur outages cost the average business £1900 a day.

Bernard Laroche a Senior Director at Symatec said

“According to the research findings, SME’s still haven’t recognised the tremendous impact a disaster can have on their businesses. Despite warnings, it seems like many still think it can’t happen to them.”

The findings also show that outages are a major cause of the effected firm’s customers abandoning them in favour to competitors.

The survey polled some 1288 small businesses, along with 552 of their customers. The companies questioned were across a variety of industries and typically had between 5 and 1000 employees.

Global satellite ISP Tariam offers business satellite broadband failover solutions for companies of all sizes, and has developed niche products to seamlessly support communications outages. Some failover products are tailored to offer substantial reductions in running costs in the event that they’re not actually needed.

The future expansion of global broadband communications has been thought to have been guaranteed by fibre optics, and indeed most developed countries have been investing in a fibre infrastructure over the last 20 years. However new research into laser satellite internet and doubts over the future capacity of fibre optics mean we need to keep an open mind.

A new report and recent results from laboratory tests of existing fibre technology show maximum data rates being half what the communications industry was originally led to believe. The report confirms that our appetite for web based working and data transit will be stretching the capacity of the fibre optic network much sooner than previously imagined.

And there is a growing realisation within the telecommunications industry that the end of the phenomenal growth in optical fibre communication capacity is within sight. At this year’s Fibre Optics Conference (OFC 2010) several groups reported that they were extremely close to reaching the maximum capacity of the existing fibre technology.

Dr David Richardson from the University of Southampton’s Optoelectronics Research Centre says in his report that the best data rates measured in laboratory settings challenge the perceived notion that fibre is a limitless conduit for data.

Dr Richardson said

“The thought that the current fibre technology has infinite capacity is not true – we are beginning to hit the fundamental limits of the current technology.

“We need to be looking at the next big breakthrough to allow us to continue to scale as we have traditionally done.”

“If you gain a factor of two in bandwidth by developing a whole new amplifier technology, that’s perhaps two or three years of capacity growth. To get radical changes – to get factors of 100 or 1000 – it’s going to be extremely demanding.”

Dr Richardson also pointed out that the current mentality of the public that broadband should be an unlimited and almost free resource will need to change.

He said

“We may all increasingly need to get used to the idea that bandwidth – just like water and energy – is a valuable commodity to be used wisely.”

The telecommunications industry is gradually moving towards a business model where users are charged for what they consume in terms of bandwidth and data, much like they have been in the past for other universal utilities.

The UK is slowly climbing up the broadband world rankings, but is still not “ready for tomorrow,” according to a global study of internet services. The annual report completed at Oxford University’s ‘Said Business School’ and commissioned by network giant Cisco, looks at how well countries are doing in terms of both quality and penetration of net services.

The UK is now ranked 18th out of 72 countries, up from 25th place in 2009.

The perception that fibre is the only answer to our broadband future is also being challenged by the satellite internet industry as the sector develops technology to move signals by light. Research into the use of lasers to pass signals and data between satellites and the ground show that the next generation of satellite broadband technology will not only be blisteringly fast and have virtually no latency, but will also compete favourably with fibre optics in terms of cost, flexibility and capacity. Antenna sizes for laser satellite communications are much smaller than today’s microwave based dishes.

The UK military have been experimenting and developing laser satellite communications for some years.

The Which? study uncovered that online savers could be hundreds of pounds better off over the course of a year compared with branch-only savers. It also highlighted that the average rate for instant-access savings accounts available in-branch to be just 0.56%, less than half of that available to online savers (1.14%). Fixed-rate savings accounts and cash ISAS also offered a better range of best-rate products for online customers.

With rumours in the news today that the Government thinks very low base rates may be around for as long as ten years, it will be imperative to many people to access to the most competitive savings deals.

The latest figures from the ‘Department for Work and Pensions’ show that four million people in the UK are digitally excluded, either because they can’t afford or don’t have internet access.

Critics say the banking industry is treating its offline customers unfairly, particularly older people who haven’t grown up with an understanding of the internet. The harsh reality is however, the retail banking sector wants its customers to interact with it online to save costs, and this differential between branch-only customers and online savers will only get greater.

Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith said

“Not everyone is comfortable or able to manage their finances online and these people are missing out on the best deals as a result”.

The research also found a staggering 355% difference between the best online deals and branch-only deals on travel insurance. As an example, a 65-year old would pay £38 for an annual worldwide policy with Best Buy insurer Multitrip.com, yet the best deal on the high street, Co-operative Insurance’s Home Options policy, cost £173.

Managing Director of Tariam Satellite Internet Andrew Walwyn said

“It’s no exaggeration to say that not a week goes by now without similar stories appearing in the press. We’ve being drawing attention to the costs of not having broadband for at least 2 years.

“Our Tooway solution can give everyone, wherever they’re located in the UK, super fast broadband within one week. Clearly if you’re in a not-spot, there’s an up front cost to going online with satellite broadband, but most customers can recoup this within a few weeks or months just by saving money online buying utilities, insurance, and their general household shopping. The Which? research is great because it highlights the discrimination those in not-spots suffer in terms of financial products. I hope the Government reads the research.

“If you don’t have broadband, obviously the costs in terms of loss of quality of life are more difficult to quantify, but feedback from our customers is that having real broadband at home, literally transforms their family’s lives overnight.

“We’re tremendously busy at the moment because of the launch of the new Welsh Broadband Support Scheme. This means the lucky people of Wales can get our excellent home user solution Tooway set-up and installed for free, but we have plenty of capacity to deal with those affected by the digital divide in England and Scotland as well.

“We’re hoping that the Government recognise how seriously the lack of broadband affects rural homes and businesses, and looks to launch a similar scheme to the subsidy offered by the Welsh Assembly as quickly as possible.”

The pigeons each carrying a USB key made their journey from a Yorkshire farm to Skegness around 120 miles away in an hour and fifteen minutes. In the same time, the broadband had only uploaded 24 per cent of the 5 minute video clip.

Campaigners said the stunt was being carried out to illustrate that broadband in some parts of the UK is still “not fit for purpose”. BT continues to brief the press that 99% of UK homes could now get broadband but won’t ever commit to the exact statistics on ‘speed’.

However, this would still leave a minimum of 160,000 homes that are still excluded due to their distance from the exchange. Research commissioned by the BBC last year found that around 3 million UK homes were still below the Governments Universal Service Commitment of 2 Mbps.

Tom Wheeler, Business Development Manager for Tooway at Tariam said

“I think the public have given up waiting for the BT and Government to get to grips with the digital divide.  We’ve seen a three fold increase in the numbers of enquiries for our domestic satellite internet solution Tooway in the last 4 weeks.

“Part of this is the exciting new Broadband Support Scheme being offered by the Welsh Assembly, but feedback from people on the phones is that they can’t wait any longer – being without broadband actually really affects peoples quality of life and their ability to do business.

“The Broadband Support Scheme gets homes and businesses in Wales online for free using alternative technology like our satellite broadband. For those in other parts of the UK, the investment of a couple of hundred pounds in a Tooway means they can get 3.6 Mpbs, wherever they are. We can usually get people up and running within about 7 days.

Lloyd Felton of the Rural Broadband Partnership agreed efforts to bring attention to rural broadband deprivation and low speeds are always creditable.

Lloyd said

“It’s true that there are particular areas of the country that suffer much more than others.”

“You’ve got massive deprivation – this long-quoted ‘digital divide’. As we all get more dependent on the internet, that divide gets wider.

“In the end it’s who takes ownership and responsibility for coordinating how a parish is going to handle it – what we say is that ‘communities need to help themselves to broadband’.”

Tariam, a Distributor of Skylogic’s Europe wide Tooway solution, offers a free advisory service for villages and communities affected by lack of broadband assisting them to make the best use of grants and discounts to overcome rural broadband discrimination.

Crucially poorer countries that would benefit most from having broadband to assist in things like education and telemedicine are the most costly places to get a connection. The Central African Republic for instance came out the most expensive with a fixed broadband connection costing 40 times the average monthly income.

Macao in China came out the cheapest, costing just 0.3% of the average monthly income. When landlines and mobiles are factored in, Niger becomes the most expensive place.

Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary general of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) said

“Access to broadband in an affordable manner is our greatest challenge.”

Access to cheap communications technology is one of the UN’s Millennium Development Goals.

Closer to home studies out this week highlight the fact that most UK homes would prefer to cut back on food than lose their internet connection. A study from Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank concluded that 93% of us would only give up broadband as a last resort. Broadband was also rated as one of the most important “must haves” above cable / satellite TV and holidays.

All this puts people in Wales in a truly envious position. The new Welsh Assembly Broadband Support Scheme (BSS) launched in July finally enables isolated Welsh communities in not-spots or in locations outside the fixed line broadband network to get online effectively for free.

Homes and businesses can take advantage of a simple grant that covers the set-up costs of using alternative technologies like satellite internet which don’t discriminate by location. Products like’s Tariam’s Tooway offer a robust 3.6 Mbps connection for the same kind of monthly cost as fixed line broadband like ADSL.

Tariam’s Managing Director Andrew Walwyn said

“Tooway is the perfect product for Welsh not-spots, indeed we designed the product with this kind of user in mind. We’ve had a truly phenomenal number of enquiries from Wales since the launch of the scheme. It’s exactly what the area needs.

“We’ve been aware of the plans for the subsidy for some time and we’ve geared up our infrastructure to cope with the extra demand. We’ve now got extra installers in Wales, plenty of stock on hand, and a dedicated Welsh Broadband Support Desk to assist customer in getting online quickly and easily.

“Everything’s explained on our website but individual households, home users, communities and 3rd sector organisations are all eligible for the grant. If you’re in a location where there is no fixed line broadband or you can’t get better than 512 kb over wires, you should qualify for the free hardware and installation”.

Andrew was critical of the Parliaments in England and Scotland for not coming forward with similar schemes to the Welsh.

“We heard recently that the new Government in London has pushed out the Universal Broadband Commitment at least another 3 years. Broadband is so essential to leading an effective and rewarding life in today’s world, I struggle to understand why politicians can’t see what a positive step forward it would be to roll out a national scheme.

“It would energise the country at the very roots when it’s most needed after the long dark times of the economic downturn. We would see an immediate lift in efficiency and innovation in education and small business. It would improve the quality of life of millions of people for what is really a comparatively small cost for the rewards it gives”.

UK telecommunications watchdog Ofcom has found that nearly half of consumers think that changing their broadband or landline provider is “too much hassle” even if they find a better deal. Ofcom is advising the UK broadband industry that if a customer wants to switch providers, they should take the lead and perform the switch for them.

Ofcom has realised that whilst cheap communications bundles offering customers one deal on broadband, TV, and mobile seem like a good idea, they make the business of changing providers complex and cumbersome.

When it was announced last year by ex Communications Minister Lord Carter, many critics were highly sceptical that the Broadband Britain commitment could be achieved. Some say that the now defunct labour Government was desperate to give voters some positive news, when in the recession riddled run up to a General Election, good news was hard to find.

Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt announced on Thursday he didn’t think there was “sufficient funding in place” to meet the 2012 goal.

Mr Hunt said at an industry conference on 15 July

“Last month, I announced that we were supporting a universal service level of 2 Mbps as the very minimum that should be available.

“I have looked at the provision the Government had made to achieve this by 2012. And I’m afraid that I am not convinced that there is sufficient funding in place.

“So, while we will keep working towards that date, we have set ourselves a more realistic target of achieving universal 2 Mbps access within the lifetime of this Parliament”.

Steve Robertson, chief executive of BT Openreach, told BBC 5Live’s Drive program on Friday that the goal could not be achieved without around £2bn in public funding.

However some analysts have put the figure far higher than that at nearer £100bn. Research firm Point Topic estimates that around 2m homes are currently unable to get speeds of 2 Mbps. Point Topic analyst Tim Johnson fears the government has a bigger challenge on its hands than it realises.

Tim said

“These two million premises aren’t in clearly defined areas. The only way to reach the have-nots is to engineer a service upgrade across wide areas.

“That could bring the total number of houses needing upgrades closer to 5 million, which would cost the government more”.

In less formal discussions, the Government continues to brief that the broadband industry itself must find solutions to the problem. However with no new money available, and no commercial case for BT or other providers to fund the set-up costs, it’s difficult to see how rural not-spots and even some urban areas will get connected unless they opt for alternative options like satellite broadband.

Tariam’s satellite broadband solution for homes Tooway gives users a robust 3.6 mbps, nearly twice the Governments 2 Mbps commitment wherever they’re located, and its available everywhere now.

Tariam Managing Director Andrew Walwyn said

“We’re here for everyone out there in the UK that’s in a not-spot or who can’t get the broadband service they need over wires. We’ve spent 2 years gearing up for the demand we know is there, we have a dedicated and certified installer network that’s now completely nationwide, ready to install and deliver broadband anywhere in the UK, today”.

The only criticism of the satellite internet route is that inevitably there’s the cost of the hardware.

Andrew went on to say

“There is a cost involved in our Tooway solution, but with the ability to then shop for goods and services like insurance, holidays and utilities online, our customers tell us they can recoup those costs in a few months, and then they’ve got a free, reliable, fast broadband connection wherever they live”.

National newspapers are now publishing details of online money saving websites every week, alongside stories of people who’ve saved £100s and even £1000’s on their every day expenses purely by researching prices and shopping online.

The Government’s ‘Digital Champion’ Martha Lane Fox, an original co founder of lastminute.com, has launched the “Manifesto for a Networked Nation” in a bid to get everyone of working age online by the end of 2012.

Martha said

“If everyone was online, total savings would be in excess of £22 billion a year with households saving an average of £560 per year.

“We also know that 3.6 million low-income households are missing out on savings of £1 billion a year by not being able to pay bills online”.

Many people don’t realise is perfectly possible to switch utility providers several times a year to take advantage of promotional and money saving offers, but these kind of deals are normally only advertised online. For those caught in the digital divide, satellite internet is the answer.

Despite the austere financial climate, those questioned in the research haven’t reduced what they consider to be life’s bare essentials. They still feel as a minimum people need not just physical essentials like food, shelter and warmth, but also other necessities that allow them to contribute and be involved in Society.

The JRF study shows that a typical family of two adults and two children needs an annual income of at least £29,200 to afford the basics of life. For a single person the minimum is £14,400 – this equates to full-time job earning £7.38 per hour.

Interestingly a computer and home internet connection are now considered fundamental for all non-pensioner households. In the 2008 research, they were only considered essential for families with school-age children. As early as 1999 JRF were predicting that those with lower incomes were going to be excluded from the rapidly growing ‘electronic economy’ where increasingly everything from utilities to clothes was going to be sourced online.

In another study JRF has concluded that lack of broadband communications can have a serious affect on the futures of some communities.

The ‘digital divide’ between those who are able to exploit the potential of information and communications technologies (ICTs) via fast internet connections, and those who are not, is seen as a major factor influencing wider social and economic inequalities.

European satellite internet ISP Tariam continues to urge the Government in the UK to help disadvantaged communities and not-spots by looking more closely at the satellite broadband option.

Tariam Managing Director Andrew Walwyn said

“It’s frustrating to read the JRF studies and to be sitting here with the solution in our hands now. We can deliver 3.6 Mbps broadband to any home or site in the UK today with the minimum of fuss using our cheap home user solution Tooway. Customers in Wales are now eligible for the new Welsh Broadband Support Scheme meaning they if they’re in a not-spot we can get them online for free now.

“Lord Carter in his ‘Digital Britain’ report last year conceded that for up to 30% of the UK there’s little or no commercial case for anyone to invest in the next generation of broadband services. What’s clearly needed therefore is the UK Government to grasp the nettle and allocate some money to help the other communities and small businesses that are deprived of broadband”.

Beverley McCartney, who lives in Salem near Llandeilo in South West Wales, was told previously by BT that they couldn’t offer her a connection. But they’ve relented and finally wrote to her last week and told her that they could help after all, but that wasn’t quite the end of the story.

Mrs McCartney, who admits she has wanted a broadband connection for years, was told by BT they could finally overcome her not-spot dilemma if she could contribute an eye watering £129,613.54 plus VAT to the costs of installing a new broadband line. If Mrs McCartney would be happy to pay that, BT generously agreed to contribute £8,000 towards the project.

Mrs McCartney said

“I just laughed; I thought it was ludicrous in view of their profits”.

Mrs McCartney got straight onto BT believing the letter was a misprint.

“I said – Surely this is a typing error?” and the girl said “No, there’s been no mistake; other people have had bills for much more than this.”

Chris Orum of BT said

“There can be very rare cases where additional charges need to be applied because of an exceptional amount of work required to the network in order to provide service. These charges reflect the additional line plant and equipment needed to provide broadband to a particular location”.

Tariam is contacted by people every day who are faced with the same not-spot nightmare.

New Business Development Manager Neil Waugh said

“Although this letter was clearly a shock for poor Mrs McCartney, we had another customer recently who had a similar situation but BT had quoted them a staggering £250,000. Unbelievably, this customer was less than 10 miles from the centre of Milton Keynes”.

“With our dedicated satellite internet home user product Tooway we could have Mrs McCartney online for less than £500, and we could offer her a full 3.6 Mbps for that, probably more than BT would have committed to. We’ll obviously give her a ring”.

Tariam’s satellite broadband solutions mean that they can provide ultra-fast broadband for home or business users, anywhere on the surface of the planet.

If you want to know more, email us us with details of your location, the number of users you want to support and how quickly you want to be connected – we’ll take care of the rest.

IsatPhone Pro is the first global satellite phone that’s truly pocket sized and that has similar functionality to modern GSM cellular phones with features like a colour screen and USB connectivity. The IsatPhone Pro is based on the globally recognised Inmarsat BGAN network.

Tariam Managing Director, Andrew Walwyn said

“IsatPhone Pro is a very important and exciting product for a number of reasons. From our perspective, it’s the first time we’ve had a product that will compete on equal terms with the regular mobile phone market.

“Of course IsatPhone Pro will be competitive on the price of hardware and calls for international travellers and remote workers. However, its key difference is it will work anywhere, even in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, or the depths of the Amazon Rainforest.

“The product itself really is a marvel. It brings a number of features we take for granted on GSM mobiles to the satellite phone market for the first time. In terms of things like size, battery life and usability it’s a huge step forward”.

Key IsatPhone Pro features include

• Bluetooth support, allowing the phone to be connected to the latest in car systems and headsets

• SMS text and the ability to ‘text’ your location in the event an emergency

• A robust but light handset, splash and shock resistant and able to work in temperatures from -20°C to +55°C

• Industry leading battery life with eight hours talk time and up to one hundred hours standby, over three times its nearest competitor

• Standard network features like voicemail, caller ID, conferencing, call waiting

• Connection to tried and tested geostationary satellites giving less dropped calls than other satellite phones

IsatPhone Pro will be available with a complimentary range of rugged accessories and car, boat and aircraft docking kits.

Tariam is taking reservations now for the first handset deliveries which are due in the middle of June 2010, check out more information here.

At the launch of the company’s new cheaper home user offering, Tariam Managing Director, Andrew Walwyn says the question customers most often ask him is “why do I have to pay for the equipment and set up charge?”

Andrew said

“It’s a common question. I usually respond with a bit of a politician’s answer! People can reject satellite as an option because of the perceived costs associated with it, but you have to get people to people think ‘outside the box’ and see the true facts.

“Lets start by saying that satellite internet has never been cheaper; we’ve just introduced our best ever offer where if customers source their own local installer, we’ll supply the kit delivered to them for £299 (inc VAT). Bearing in mind the operators have to fund the infrastructure, including the costs of multi million pound satellites, the deal is really very fair, buts lets look at it in more detail.

“For home users, our Tooway product offers an industry leading 3.6 Mbps satellite internet service for £24.99 a month (inc VAT) which I think is a good price, as it doesn’t discriminate by location and is available with full performance everywhere in Europe.

“There is a short term investment to be made in the hardware, but if you pause, and look at the maths, this will SAVE you money, just think about it.

“As an example – the cost of the hardware if you source your own local installer is £299 (inc VAT). The typical working life of the hardware is, say, 5 years, so if you annualise the cost of the kit, that comes out at £59.80 per year, about £4.98 a month.

“I would challenge any UK household of more than 2 people, or indeed any family, that they’d save substantially more than that £60 every year just by then being able to shop online for their insurances, utilities, even their weekly shopping and clothes.

“With a bit of work, I would hope that they’d be able to offset the cost of the airtime as well, and even come out slightly better off financially than if they didn’t have broadband at all.

“If you add in the benefits of broadband to enhance your leisure time with things like being able to book concert and sporting tickets in advance online, the fun of social networking, as well as having access to time saving applications like online banking, having satellite broadband can really improve your quality of life as well as saving you money.

So if you’re in a not-spot, and don’t know how to get your home or family online, order online here, and we’ll do our best to have you online in about a week. If you want to try-before-you-buy, we’d be delighted to welcome you to our Demonstration Centre in Weston-on-the-Green, just off the M40 near Oxford. Just give us a ring before you call in to give us time to get the kettle on!

*Customers who run their businesses from home and are registered for VAT can obviously claim VAT and tax relief on the cost of the hardware and airtime, further reducing the cost of the service.

Helen, 26, successfully completed her solo kayak journey along 2,010 miles of the great Amazon River at the end of February.

The BBC used BGAN X-Stream to track Helen’s arduous journey and to stream live TV coverage of her adventure to millions of viewers from deep inside the Amazon rain-forest.

A presenter of the BBC’s Blue Peter children’s programme, Helen set off from Natua, Peru, for Almerim in Brazil, on 20 January. Helen was raising funds for Sport Relief – the UK-based initiative that aims to help transform the lives of poor and vulnerable people.

Fighting off daily sickness and heat exhaustion, Helen, along with her BGAN terminal, paddled 60 miles a day, six days a week to break two world records, the longest solo journey by kayak by a woman, and for longest distance in a kayak travelled in 24 hours by a woman.

Helen said

“My bottom is bruised, my shoulders are sore and the muscles in my neck are making it hard to differentiate between my head and my shoulders. But to be honest I am proud of the war wounds.

“I’m very lucky to have amazing people in my life who’ve picked me up when things got hard, and most importantly inspired me to carry on.”

Tariam launched its BGAN X-Stream service in October 2009 and the service is available on all Tariam supplied Thrane 700 Explorer and Hughes 9201 terminals and some marine and vehicle mounted variants, even to customers with existing BGAN SIM cards in use. X-Stream uses existing well proven technology to facilitate an uncontended streaming connection of up to 450 kbps from wherever you want to work or play.

Tariam supplies “best-of-breed” mobile and fixed Satellite Broadband and Satellite Internet solutions for people who want to get connected where there are no wires.

Left to Right Mark Williams MP, Lynn Davis, Steve Petrie and Tariam Director Selwyn Petterson

Aberystwyth, Wales, 19th March 2010

Aberystwyth garage owner Lynn Davies is celebrating after his Internet connection problems were finally solved with the help of the local MP, a county councillor and the Eutelsat Tooway™ Satellite Broadband service installed and operated by Tariam.

Lynn’s Modurdy Eiddwen Garage business is in a so called ‘not-spot’ outside the reach of fixed line broadband. As a Kawasaki All Terrain Vehicles dealership and a service and repair centre for all quad bikes, Lynn desperately needed broadband access to register new vehicles online, order spares, and make warranty claims, but life was becoming impossible due to his frustratingly slow dial-up internet connection.

Lynn said

“We could only use the internet very early in the morning or late at night and it was having a major impact on our business. It could take hours to make warranty claims and simple things like ordering spare parts or quickly looking up prices for customers were impossible.”

Lynn needed a permanent broadband connection but, like many in the area, the traditional telephone providers were unable to connect him and that’s where Tariam Tooway™ came in.

Local MP Mark Williams and Ceredigion County Councillor Rowland Rees-Evans knew that satellite owners Eutelsat were looking for pilot projects to demonstrate the revolutionary Tooway™ satellite broadband service and put them in touch. Today Lynn has a free, 12-month Tooway™ satellite broadband service in return for demonstrating the solution in the region. The service was supplied and installed by Tooway™ distributor Tariam Satellite Communications.

Tooway™ has been designed to deliver super fast internet connectivity to broadband not-spots via satellite. It consists of a small satellite dish and a set-top box connected to the PC direct or via a wireless router, giving customers immediate broadband access following a simple installation. In addition, the Tooway™ service has the ability to deliver Voice over IP services and Direct-to-Home television using the same Tooway™ dish.

One of Tariam’s Directors, Selwyn Petterson was on hand to welcome Lynn as a customer and to get his feedback on the service.

“The new service is brilliant,” said Lynn. “The installation was quick and straightforward. We’ve set-up a new, dedicated computer and thanks to Tooway™ the internet connection is now available around the clock and is very fast.”

Mark Williams, MP, said: “I am delighted to have been able to play a part in bringing this satellite broadband trial to the area. There are large parts of the country where homes and businesses require a high-speed broadband service to prosper and it will take too long and be too expensive to connect these rural locations by telephone cable in the traditional manner. It’s important that we encourage other, more cost effective options such as satellite.”

Steve Petrie, Northern European Sales Director for Tooway™ said

“Tooway™ is the first satellite two-way broadband service offering speeds and running costs similar to ADSL. We are delighted to be able to demonstrate the capability of our service to deliver high-speed internet connections to homes and businesses across Wales. Tooway™ is already serving customers in more than 22 European countries and we look forward to assisting Wales in solving its broadband access challenges.”

New Government legislation coming into affect in April 2010 compels all businesses turning over £100,000 or more to file their VAT returns online and pay VAT electronically. This further compounds the impossible situation faced by many small firms who can’t get broadband.

If home users or businesses want to try the service at Lynn’s garage, or place an order they should contact Tariam at www.tariam.co.uk or on 08 44 874 0600

Global Satellite Broadband ISP Tariam has launched an innovative new satellite broadband service aimed specifically at supporting serving NATO and ISAF forces and their subcontractors operating in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The service, dubbed ‘inet’, has been put together to facilitate welfare communications for personnel stationed thousands of miles from friends and family with no way of communicating with home.

Tariam’s Military and Aerospace Director, Selwyn Petterson, said

“inet is a revolutionary satellite internet offering because we’re actually giving away the hardware with the service. We’ve constructed the product to make it as easy and quick as possible for these users to get online. We’ve got large stocks of hardware sitting in the appropriate countries to minimise delays in getting the equipment to where it’s needed most. We’re confident that we’ve got enough equipment to offer the deal to ALL serving NATO and ISAF personnel, and we can provide service on a variety of satellites, wherever our forces are working.

“Most people don’t realise that the ordinary troops and serving personnel rarely have access to the internet in many of these places because it simply doesn’t exist there. We’ve made a name for ourselves supplying communications for the military, but inet is aimed really at the ordinary soldiers and airmen.

The Tariam inet kit includes everything the user with a PC needs to get online quickly enabling them to exchange emails, make and receive voice calls, browse the internet and even use a webcam to see their loved ones. There’s a list of bases and camps that can use the service on Tariam’s website, but all of Afghanistan and Iraq are well covered.

Selwyn went on to say

“The core of the solution is satellite internet hardware that’s been extensively tested and is well proven in a variety of environments, but the key thing is that troops often transit through camps or bases and are only around for fairly short periods before moving on. The way the product works allows groups of individuals to club together to get a location online with no capital outlay and the users can then just pay as they come and go.

“As part of the deal to give something back to those putting themselves in the front line, we’re also making a donation of 10% of the profit from this product to the Help for Heroes campaign which we feel is an extremely worthy cause”.

If you want to make a donation to Help for Heroes, you can here

More information on Tariam inet is available now by browsing the Tariam website and clicking Afghanistan & Iraq.

inet is not available in the UK or Ireland.

The Salvation Army is one of the world largest charities with an annual income of over US $ 3 billion. Tariam has provided BGAN services for the Salvation Army since 2005, but the humanitarian crisis resulting from the devastating earthquake that struck at 16.53 local time (21.53 GMT) on 12 January 2010 prompted a request for extra services to assist their teams on the ground in communicating effectively.

Business Development Manager Neil Waugh said

“BGAN is a tool often deployed by our relief agency customers, but we’ve never had a more poignant ‘call to action’ than when this call came in.

“When these kind of terrible disasters happen, speed of response is everything. Rapid Deployment of Mission Critical Communications, particularly satellite internet is our business, we were delighted to be able to assist by responding immediately to the request”.

If you’d like to make a donation to the Salvation Army’s vital work in assisting in Haiti you can here.

Tariam’s Special Projects team was approached in November 2009 as traditional broadband options had been abandoned for being too costly and because they couldn’t deliver on time. As well as providing ISDN via their global BGAN platform, Tariam has provided a super fast Ethernet connection using its iconnect satellite broadband platform, based on iDirect.

The project, which was completed at very short notice and to tight deadlines, is the GDF Suez’s first windfarm in the UK.

Tariam Business Development Manager, Neil Waugh, said

“Connecting customers via ISDN over satellite isn’t something we get asked to do every day, but the standard is still widely used for remote control and monitoring in the windfarm sector, and with BGAN it’s straightforward to set up.

“The key drivers in this deployment though were the costs and the speed of installation. There’s a common misconception that satellite broadband is a more expensive option than fixed line broadband or ISDN, but this isn’t the case particularly when you factor in the reliability and robustness of the connections we offer.

“As customers come to us with more and more remote places that they need connecting, satellite internet becomes more and more viable. We’ve heard several instances in the last few weeks where BT was quoting over £100,000 to get a line into a site, and one instance this week where a customer has been quoted £250,000.

“Our solutions deliver without discriminating by geographical location, and the dynamic new technology we deploy means that customers get a better overall solution that ADSL can offer anyway”.

isatphone Pro will offer satellite telephony, with Bluetooth for hands-free use, voicemail, and text and email messaging. Location data will also be available to the user to look up or send in a text message.

Although it looks and feels like a modern GSM mobile phone, isatphone Pro is designed primarily for professional users in the government, media, aid, oil and gas, mining and construction sectors and is based on the class leading Inmarsat BGAN network.

Tariam’s Business Development Manager Neil Waugh said

“We’re extremely excited about isatphone Pro because its means we can bring the fantastic flexibility of satellite communications to a new group of mobile users. Most of us remember satellite phones that were like the early cellular phones, expensive, very heavy, and complicated to use.

“isatphone Pro is very small, works anywhere, its simple to use and has great battery life. It’s the first handset to be purpose-built for the Inmarsat network.

The isatphone Pro handset has been developed by Inmarsat in conjunction with Sasken Communications Technologies, which has led development programmes for most of the world’s top mobile phone manufacturers. Elcoteq, the world’s third largest manufacturer of mobile phones, has been appointed to manufacture isatphone Pro at its facility in Tallinn, Estonia.

Neil went on to say

“We’ll be offering the phone from June 2010 with call packages similar to those you see on the high street for normal mobile phones. Although it’s a completely unique offering, the price will be extremely keen and we expect it to become one of our best selling products”.

SCIAC (pronounced SKY-ACK) has been designed and manufactured by Tariam in response to customer demands for a lightweight, Deployable Communications System (DCS) with global functionality.

The device which mates hardware based on Inmarsat’s BGAN satellite communications platform with an innovative power supply designed to work from any available power, and CESG and FIPS approved encryption, provides portable, robust voice and data communications, literally anywhere.

Tariam’s Military and Aerospace Director Selwyn Petterson said

“Our customers often have to deploy at a moments notice into environments that are at best complex, and frequently very remote.

“SCIAC’s design brief was for a rugged, compact and portable unit that could be carried as hand luggage onto any flight, and then when the user reaches their destination, can be online for suitably encrypted data and voice communications within minutes, whatever the local infrastructure. It’s affectively a guaranteed, confidential networking solution for places with non existent or flaky wired connectivity.

“The product set has completed formal evaluations by the UK Government CESG Assisted Products Scheme (CAPS) at “Enhanced Grade” standard, suitable to protect data up to short term SECRET, and is formally approved in the MoD’s Defence Infosec Products Co-operation Group (DIPCOG) scheme. We do expect quite a few SCIAC’s to find their way to Afghanistan over the next few weeks”.

SCIAC is available with a wide range of options dependent on the user’s likely working environment, and the number of users they wish to cater for.

Tariam SCIAC is available now with a variety of encryption standards and airtime plans to suit individual user’s profiles.

Speaking from their new offices and demo lab in Weston on the Green, Oxfordshire MD Andrew Walwyn said

“BGAN was already a unique and dynamic product, but X-Stream coming online takes it to a completely different level. Our peak streaming data rates on portable BGAN’s is now a minimum of 384kbps, right up to 450kbps on demand. These are the fastest ‘on demand’ streaming rates in the world of mobile satellite communications.

“Customers don’t need any special new hardware or different terminals to access the new services, any existing Thrane Explorer 700 or Hughes 9201 terminal will provide access to X-Stream. This is all with one unit, one IP address that works anywhere in the world”.

Tariam offers mobile broadband and voice connectivity globally via its BGAN services which provide synchronous broadband data up to half a megabit with simultaneous high quality voice calls, ISDN and G4 fax, all in one portable laptop sized unit.

Tariam BGAN customers can access the new X-Stream services straight away, but should ensure that they’ve downloaded the latest version of the free BGAN Launchpad software to ensure optimum delivery. Version 3.9.3 has just become available which supports Windows Vista and XP.

Andrew also said

“The availability of new X-Stream option coincides with the launch of our ecommerce facilities for BGAN, allowing customers to buy hardware securely online, as well as accessing online billing, invoicing and support through the same industry leading portal. The availability of X-Stream means customers can dispense with expensive SNG trucks and provide quality video streams from one compact unit.

“BGAN is a very important product for us, we’re investing a lot in new supplementary equipment for the platform, and it’s important that we have state of the art support services in place to give our customers the best possible BGAN solution”.

Tariam has been looking to relocate for some time to bring its Operations, R & D, Provisioning, Billing and Tech Support functions all under one roof, and to create a demonstration lab where customers can come and test offerings, and talk to technical staff before making a decision to buy.

Managing Director Andrew Walwyn said

“I’ve always thought a ‘Try-before-you-buy’ scheme would work well in the satellite internet arena where people are often looking at commitment to a product they’ve never used or seen before.

“The idea is customers can come in with their PC’s or MAC’s and test their own applications to see how good the latest systems are. They can experience how satellite would work for them if they bought the product”.

Tariam currently offers 6 different satellite platforms on numerous different satellites depending on what kind of connectivity the customer needs, whether they’re domestic or business users, and whether voice or data or a combination of the two are important.

Andrew went on to say

“We’re expanding the range of options that customers can come and try all the time but we already have our Tooway home user product running here, as well as our iaccess, iconnect and BGAN options.

“We also have new demonstration facilities going live in November ’09 in Clough Road, Hull and just off Junction 5 of the M77 in Glasgow so wherever you are, there’s a Tariam demo facility within reasonable travelling distance. We just ask customers to let us know when they’re coming so that we’re ready to welcome them”.

Managing Director of Tariam Satellite Internet Andrew Walwyn said

“I’m not one to knock the opposition, but in reality customers who call us rarely have a good word to say about Mobile Wireless services.

“The feedback we have is that true broadband 3G services are available in some of the big cities (where high-speed broadband is already in abundance with WiMax and in wireless hotspots, cafe’s and coffee shops) but rarely in rural areas or where the so-called “not-spots” exist and the services are really needed”.

Contention and lack of true 3G enabled cell sites in rural locations also mean mobile users often don’t see more than 56 kb dial-up performance.

EPITIRO’s research isn’t broken down by area or network so it’s difficult for consumers to make informed choices, but the recent survey included results from 1.4 million speed tests conducted nationally.

And mobile wireless services don’t come cheap. Published costs on Vodafone’s website today (which include a recent reduction in price) offer a mobile broadband package which gives just 15 Mb per day for £1 (0.45 GB for £30 a month if used every day), and then charge an eye watering £2 per Mb if the 15 Mb daily allowance is breached. If you take advantage of cheap VoIP calling on services like Skype, this usage isn’t included in the initial bundled data allowance and is charged at the full £2 per Mb rate.

For home users in rural or suburban “not-spots” all this means mobile or 3G isn’t a viable alternative, and can’t really be said to be a “business grade service”.

Tariam’s alternative for domestic users Tooway now offers 10.2 Mbps satellite internet from only £24.99 a month (inc VAT) and this allows 4 GB at peak speed, and no excess charges beyond that. Larger data allowances are available. Even factoring in the cost of the hardware needed to use the service, over a two to three year period, satellite is a substantially faster and a more cost affective proposition.

This means the entry level satellite internet service now offers a full 2.4 GB allowance every month with speeds of over 3.5 megabits. This is a big step forward and is particularly good news for those homes and small businesses situated outside the ADSL footprint in the so-called “not-spots”. The entry level service costs just £24.99 (inc VAT) per month.

Voice over IP (VoIP) is also being supported for the first time.

Tooway is seen by many as the answer to the 9% of UK households still on dial-up and in the “not-spots” highlighted by Telecommunications Minister Lord Clark’s recent ‘Digital Britain’ address.

Lord Clark also conceded that “for up to 30% of the UK there is little or no commercial case for anyone to invest in the next generation of terrestrial broadband services”.

In this scenario, satellite based service like Tooway fill the digital divide and offer a true high-speed alternative.  Tariam’s Tooway service is expected to jump to 10 Mbps in 2010 when a new satellite is launched.

The new site features the latest technology in ecommerce and customer care; Tariam has invested in a new online billing and support system to back-up their best of breed satellite communications products.

Managing Director, Andrew Walwyn, said

“Tariam’s business has been built on the success of the previous two websites, but we started with a clean piece of paper and approached the new site from the perspective of the customer. We wanted to bring in the latest online systems to put us at the forefront of the industry with regards to ordering and customer support and to allow our customers new and old to communicate in the most efficient way with us.

“We also wanted new customers to be able to quickly and easily access the information they require, from wherever and whenever they hit the site”.

Tariam has introduced the ability to order online, with their new domestic product Tooway with the best pricing package in Europe, which also allows customers to manage and view their billing through one secure online portal.

Andrew said “Often when customers come to us, speed of deployment as well as price is a key factor. With the new site and our new nationwide installation and support agreements in place, we can now deliver this very effectively”.

www.tariam.co.uk

This means that Stratos is now a wholly owned operating division of the Inmarsat group.

However, Stratos will continue to operate independently for the foreseeable future.  Stratos state that they will remaim committed to offering and investing in their full range of mobile and fixed satellite services, developing our award-winning suite of value-added services and in continueing as the world’s trusted leader in vital communications.  Their existing distribution and supplier agreements for all of these services remain in place.

(British Association of Public Safety Communication Officers)

Satellite is far more expensive than 3G and offers a level of service that may only rarely need to be used. And for managers looking to cut costs, a move away from satellite is perhaps attractive. However, an assessment of the way satellite internet communications are used may be a more profitable option in terms of both level of service and costs.

Tom Wheeler, technical manager at Tariam Satellite Communications, admits that satellite internet services are an expensive option. “In the current economic environment, everyone rightly has an eye on costs. The problem is the words ‘cheap’ and ‘satellite’ cannot readily be used in the same sentence for business grade services.

This is because the cost of the satellites and the sophisticated infrastructure has to be passed on to the end customer, as well as the site equipment and basic connectivity. So when you are paying for your airtime and hardware, you are paying for a share of those costs as well. Satellites are expensive to build, launch and run, and the corresponding services are of the highest quality, as this is what the sector demands, and so it’s hard to make the services cheap.”

However, a shift in the type of technology being used may offer a future solution. Tariam’s Wheeler explains: “One of the key factors limiting bringing down the price of satellite communications is the current technology and available satellite capacity in the required spectrum. The vast majority of the satellite capacity for voice and data (IP)
communications over Europe, Africa and the Middle East is on Ku band. However, we are just launching the first services on Ka band in Europe. Because of the way the Ka spectrum works and the frequencies involved, this means we can put up to ten times more data over our network. It is massively more efficient in terms of what we can do, and so we can pass that cost reduction on to the end customer.

“At the moment, there is really only one satellite over Europe providing Ka band and there’s little spare capacity on it, but a new Ka band satellite will be launched in 2010 that will give us substantial more capacity and will enable us to make these reduced cost Ka services more widely available. Ka band equipment is smaller, cheaper and simpler. As a result of the frequencies used, dish sizes are smaller. From the other perspective, much higher
levels of bandwidth can be made available over relatively small and inexpensive equipment. So, over the next few years, the cost of airtime and hardware will reduce significantly, but realistically we won’t see commercial enterprise and government-level Ka-based services being made available much before Q1 2011.”

© The BAPCO Journal.

Reproduced with the kind permission of The BAPCO Journal.

BAPCO is a professional association that promotes the development of efficient and effective communications to provide value for money and effective systems to enhance delivery of public safety and civil contingency services for the benefit of the public and for the benefit of individual public safety and civil contingency services and personnel by means of research, planning, co-ordination and education.

Launched over a decade ago The BAPCO Journal is the only publication in the UK written exclusively for and on behalf of all communications and information technology officers and decision makers within the public safety sector. As the official publication of the British Association of Public Safety Communication Officers The BAPCO Journal serves to disseminate information on all aspects of communications and information technology.

The Management of Satellite Solutions Worldwide has over 60 years experience in telecommunications and logistics, and is also now investing in new infrastructure to support existing and new customers and to continue where Tariam Ltd left off in providing a one-stop-shop for all your satellite communications needs.

The Solaris product has been put together to address the nightmare businesses now face if their broadband connection fails. It’s thought that several thousand businesses were seriously affected by the flash floods that hit many parts of the UK in July 2007.

Tariam’s New Business Development Manager Noel Drummey says “Tariam has dozens of enquiries for failover connections every month, but some businesses are put off by the running costs of most satellite internet connections which are typically over £150 per month, even if they’re not used.”

“These days even sole traders are totally dependent on broadband communications for things like banking and email. Tariam has put together a robust but tiny satellite based solution that can offer up to one megabit of broadband connectivity (synchronous) as well as two voice lines that can take over automatically and can be installed easily by the customer. This cuts the upfront costs substantially. Running costs if the equipment isn’t used are also a more manageable £22 a month”.

Up until now although many businesses see the benefit of satellite internet communications as a back-up to less reliable services like ADSL, they have been put off by the ongoing costs.

The Government continues to urge all businesses to look at ways to make their communications more resilient and to take steps to enable them to communicate in the event of extreme weather or unpredictable outage. Sir Ian Blair (Head of Metropolitan Police) warned MPs on Tuesday that the number of terrorist plots in the UK is “mounting” and the “magnitude” of their ambitions growing.

http://www.ukresilience.info/preparedness/resilient_telecommunications.aspx

Most companies don’t realise that if they buy a second DSL connection to back-up their primary connection, it’s likely the two will still run over the same core BT infrastructure and up the street to their premises along the same wires and ducting. This offers little resilience in the case of an outage.

One of Solaris’s key benefits is that it will continue to provide a connection even if the fixed telecommunications infrastructure or cellular network fails. It will even maintain connectivity for some hours if the power goes off.

Tariam is offering Solaris now across all of Europe, North and South America, Asia, the Middle East and Africa and it will be available worldwide by the middle of 2008.

Tariam’s relationship with many of the construction industry’s top companies, along with its partnerships with several satellite owners has led to the company developing a number of bespoke solutions for the sector.

Its iaccess and portable BGAN systems now meet the needs of the most difficult communication scenarios. Tariam’s technology means that there are no longer places that you can’t work because of a lack of infrastructure. It’s ‘best of breed’ solutions can put IP Internet, voice and fax connections almost anywhere on the surface of the planet, at sea and even in the air.

Green field sites waiting for fixed line communications, remote sites with short deployments and portacabins in the middle of nowhere; these are all typical scenarios where Tariam’s Project Team has delivered to tight deadlines.

Tariam’s systems are used by numerous energy, utility and construction companies all over Europe as well as the British Government, but are also just as suitable for providing you with a corporate connection to your company intranet from a small rural office.

“Tariam deal every day with the difficulties companies experience in establishing communications in remote locations. We’re delighted with the feedback that our fast and effective service is proving invaluable to so many,” says Tariam’s, managing director.

“Today’s complex contracts can invoke harsh penalties if companies can’t deliver working communications on time. Mond home in a remote location. Tariam also specialise in integrating a range of complimentary technologies enabling our customers to get exceptional performance from their systems for Virtual Private Networking (VPN), Voice over IP (VoIP) and remote CCTV monitoring.

Further information on Tariams products can be found at www.tariam.co.uk or by calling +(44) 0844 874 0600.

For press information and photography please contact Tariam

Satellite communications used to be considered expensive. The good news is Tariam’s data rates are now considerably cheaper than GSM for data in the UK and abroad and competitive on voice roaming charges while abroad. UK mobile networks charge around £6 to £10.28 per megabyte for mobile data in the UK, more abroad. Customers using BGAN can get their effective data charges down to under £2 per MB. For large users, this can mean very substantial savings.

You can set up a broadband mobile office in minutes – wherever you are on the planet. You can access your data applications at speeds of up to half a megabit (synchronous) and make a phone call at the same time. In a world-first for mobile services, you can also select guaranteed data rates on demand, with a choice of rates to suit your application requirements. BGAN also provides ISDN and the ability to send and receive SMS text messages.

BGAN delivers seamless network coverage across 85% of the world’s landmass, and 98% of the world’s population (coverage will be extended to worldwide around mid 2008). Users are able to get broadband wherever they go, not just in major cities or airports. BGAN is currently accessible in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, North and South America.

With BGAN, users don’t need any specialist technical knowledge on satellite communications. The product is a sophisticated communications device, but using the service is straightforward for anyone who is comfortable with using a PC or a telephone. All you need to communicate is a PC, a BGAN terminal and an ordinary telephone handset.

The BGAN service is accessed via a small, lightweight satellite terminal. The smallest devices are designed to suit single users whose primary concern is portability. Several of the units can easily fit inside your existing laptop bag and weigh less than a kilo.

Key features:

• Clear step-by-step instructions on pointing the terminal and setting up a satellite connection
• Ability to customise the data connection options to match your application requirements
• Ability to pre-configure user access settings, enabling you to restrict access to Streaming IP services, for example
• Convenient online access to account and billing information
• Personal and corporate versions
• Access to text messaging and telephony features

Payment and contract flexibility mean there’s a package to suit every requirement and with speeds to match terrestrial broadband services, the service is the ultimate mobile communications solution for anyone who works or travels to locations where the local telecoms networks are unreliable or non-existent.

BGAN’s superior performance, portability and ease of use make it a compelling proposition for journalists, military personnel, emergency responders, aid workers and other established users.

But, BGAN also brings the benefits of mobile satellite communications to new users, such as engineers, consultants, project managers and sales executives.

Prices for the terminal start at around £1,000. Further information on Tariam’s products can be found at

www.tariam.co.uk or by calling +(44) 0844 874 0600.

A new product, launched today, allows companies and remote users to reliably use Tariam’s entry level satellite internet solutions to log-on to their Virtual Private Networks. The resolution involves additional hardware to the standard satellite set-up, and is ideal for VPN based remote control and monitoring systems at non ADSL sites. Tariam can provide the product anywhere in the UK or France, and will be offering it in other countries in Europe later this year.

Tariam’s Communications Director, Ben Cannon, said that the new product solves the issues of performance degradation associated with running IPsec open standards over TCP accelerated satellite internet connections.

“We announced the ability to VPN over our DVB-RCS satellite products a while ago, but we have been aggressively pursuing the holy grail of satellite VPN; to do it cost effectively for small businesses and single remote users.

“With this new solution some additional hardware is required, but the customer can get away with running our cheaper Sat 500 Pro or Sat 1000 systems. The hardware costs of these are often covered by the grants available in parts of the UK for alternatives to DSL where no fixed line broadband is available.

“The additional hardware is installed like any terrestrial VPN router, and provides end-to-end VPN solutions. Standard features include a firewall, embedded address management capabilities such as NAT and PrAT, in addition to VPN standards such as IPsec, GRE and SLE.

“We continue to develop our products around open standards where possible, and to design solutions ensuring customer can use our technology without major changes to their existing set up. This usually means getting connected will be cheaper and more straightforward. New satellite users are also freer to decide which VPN solution to opt for.”

Communications Director, Ben Cannon, said it was the next stage in Tariam’s mission to provide a complete range of broadband solutions for all sizes of business located outside the ADSL footprint.

“There have been 2 way satellite internet services offering 1mb download for some time, but the hardware costs have meant the products have been beyond the reach of most small businesses.

“Our new 1Mb service is available on hardware that costs under £1000, and with the generous grants available in many parts of the UK, it means that rural businesses can now get online with a real broadband service for virtually no capital cost.

“These systems provide fast browsing and email for companies literally wherever they are in the UK. The service has a 256 kbps upload speed and is compatible with all operating systems.

“It’s great that BT has recently committed to enable a number of exchanges that previously looked uneconomical, but there will still be around 100,000 homes and businesses in the UK that have no prospect of getting ADSL in the short to medium term. These people now have a real alternative.”

The system, which is available now anywhere in Scotland, runs on the lower latency DVB-RCS satellite internet standard originally developed for TV broadcasting. The new package can also be used to provide fast broadband connectivity in remote locations.

Tariam’s Communications Director, Ben Cannon, announced it was another step of many the company would take this year to further their campaign to provide the bandwidth and connectivity services needed by companies in non-ADSL areas, the so called not-spots.

“There are a number of satellite internet based solutions to remote IPSec VPN in the market but they mostly rely on customers buying a satellite installation for both ends of a connection. These links run on the satellite company’s own software which can be inflexible and expensive.

“At Tariam we have developed our solutions to use our satellite broadband installations where no ADSL is available. The twist is you don’t need our systems at both ends. Our technology is compatible with many proprietary IPSec VPN software solutions, meaning our customers don’t have to make big changes to their set-up to bring remote locations into their VPN.

“This will mean getting connected will be cheaper, and the installations will be quick and more straightforward. New satellite VPN users are also freer to decide which IPSec VPN software to opt for.

I’ve heard people say that IPSec VPN over satellite doesn’t work. We can now state that quite categorically it does.”

Head of Communications for Tariam, Ben Cannon said,

“There have been viable 2 way satellite broadband internet products around for a while now, but they are priced outside the range of small business or SOHO users. Our latest offering Tooway, offers users a real alternative to fixed line broadband.

“What we have done is to bring together established, robust technology and hardware, and launch it at a mass market price. We can offer a true broadband installation literally anywhere in the UK. Prices start at just £24.99 a month and we have the cheapest  product on the UK market.

“Many people have been sitting on the fence hoping that something will change and ADSL will finally come to them. The reality is that for many people it simply won’t, but they needn’t worry because now we have a feasible, cost effective alternative.

“Our services cost a little more than ADSL (not much), but if you take into account the service and support level you get compared to many ADSL offerings, it makes our products outstanding value for money. It is also giving people the chance to fix their internet costs, something customers tell us they have been after for a long time.

“We give customers help and advice on the grants that are available in most areas that cover the set-up and hardware costs, and we can install and configure the system for new customers in about 1 week”.