Page 52 - SAMENA Trends - November 2020

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Telecom Italia Purchases Capacity on Eutelsat’s KONNECT Satellite

Telecom Italia (TIM) purchased all of the month. TIM will have exclusive rights for speed broadband to all Italian households.
capacity dedicated to Italy on Eutelsat’s the distribution of satellite broadband in Following the agreement with Orange for
KONNECT satellite in order to provide fixed Italy on both the KONNECT and KONNECT France and the acquisition of BBB Europe
broadband services to Italian households VHTS satellites during the entire lifetime for retail, this agreement represents
starting in January 2021. Additionally, TIM of the contract. This contract follows a another important step in our distribution
purchased the vast majority of the capacity similar contract with Orange in France strategy, enabling us to further secure
covering Italy on the follow-on satellite, signed earlier this year for capacity on both the ramp-up of our latest capacity and
KONNECT VHTS, once it enters service. satellites. Commenting on the agreement ensuring 2021 is a turning point in fixed
This contract is expected to be valued at Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat said: broadband.”
approximately $178 million (150 million “We are delighted to announce this major
euros). KONNECT entered into service this agreement with TIM which will deliver high

Spacex Starlink Internet from Space: New 60-Satellite Launch Brings

Expanded Beta Closer

After delaying the 16th Starlink mission, certification engineer, said Starlink a month. SpaceX engineers explained in
SpaceX has now launched its Falcon 9 expects to achieve 16ms to 19ms latency a Reddit Ask Me Anything this week that
rocket to bring its Starlink satellite count to by summer 2021. All the availability cells when users first turn on a Starlink terminal,
955. Deploying its payload of 60 satellites currently in the US and Canada lie within it knows nothing about where the satellites
into orbit is the seventh mission for the the 43 degree and 53-degree latitudes, are. Instead, the dish "automatically scans
Falcon 9's first-stage rocket booster, which but some areas within that band can't the sky in a matter of milliseconds and
landed successfully back on the 'Of Course get a Starlink service. However, as more locks into the satellite overhead, even
I Still Love You' droneship in the Atlantic. satellites go into orbit, more cells become though it's traveling 17,500mph". Starlink
The rocket launched from the Space Launch available. Tice said SpaceX expects to currently does not have data caps in the
Complex 40, or SLC-40, at Cape Canaveral significantly expand its beta program in beta service, but its engineers said the
Air Force Station. Per Space.com, this late January or early February 2021. Users company "might have to do something in
launch puts SpaceX within about eight who are accepted on the beta program the future to prevent abuse and just ensure
more Starlink missions before it completes need to buy a dish and modem/router for that everyone else gets quality service".
the first phase of its constellation of 1,440 $499 and then pay a subscription of $99
satellites. These satellites orbit Earth at
an altitude of 550km (340 miles). SpaceX
is targeting "near global coverage" by next
year. The second phase of satellites will
orbit at over 1,000km (621 miles). SpaceX
last month rolled out its 'Better Than
Nothing Beta' to users in rural and remote
parts of northern US and, as of last week,
also to southern parts of Canada. Recent
Starlink beta tests show that Starlink
is delivering data speeds from 50Mbps
to 150Mbps and latency from 20ms to
40ms. That blows away speeds that many
residents in rural and remote areas of the
US and elsewhere can access. However,
SpaceX says as more satellites go up
and more ground stations are installed,
along with improvements in its networking
software, it will be able to reduce latency
even further. Kate Tice, a SpaceX senior

52 NOVEMBER 2020