In an effort to meet the significant demand in Egypt and the surrounding region for high speed Internet service at reasonable cost, Eutelsat (News - Alert) has signed a six-year distribution agreement worth nearly $30 million with Egyptsat for its Tooway satellite broadband service.

Under the terms of the deal, Egyptsat, a VSAT service provider in the Middle East and Africa, will be able to leverage the new-generation Tooway satellite service to provide broadband services to the Egyptian users beyond reach of terrestrial or wireless networks across the nation.

Egyptsat offers Internet services to oil companies in Egypt and outside of Egypt for offshore locations.

As satellite operator, Eutelsat has been providing Tooway satellite service that can provide download speeds of up to 10 Mbps and upload speeds of up to 4 Mbps. A Tooway solution is comprised of a satellite dish and a modem connected to the PC via Ethernet. This setup enables users to get Internet access without the need for a telephone line.

The Tooway service is provided via Eutelsat's KA-SAT High Throughput Satellite, which has a total capacity of more than 70 Gbps and can bring competitively-priced, satellite-delivered services for homes and small businesses across Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. This satellite includes eight main satellite gateways connected to the Internet by a fiber backbone ring.

"Tooway is the best fit for Egypt's new era, with Internet users increasing from 21 million to 25.4 million just after the 25th January revolution. With a price comparable to ADSL, Tooway is the passcode for this new era," said Dr. Mohamed Elghamry, CEO of Egyptsat, in a statement. "The service is expected to meet the significant demand in the Egyptian territory and the region, where too many places are in deep need for high speed Internet at reasonable cost."

According to Eutelsat, the Tooway satellite broadband will bring fast, reliable and affordable Internet access to Egyptsat customers in areas with limited alternative solutions for broadband. In addition, it will complement Egyptsat’s product portfolio by offering satellite Internet solutions at competitive prices for small offices and home users in the north of the country who can be served through the KA-SAT spotbeam that is allocated specifically for Egypt.

Arduino Patacchini, CEO of Skylogic, said in a statement, "Tooway is the ideal broadband service to meet the needs of Egyptsat's customers in rural and difficult to reach areas of the region. We are delighted to work with Egyptsat to extend broadband availability, and look forward to building a close and longstanding partnership which contributes to achieving a high-quality broadband environment in Egypt."

Eutelsat's satellites also serve a wide range of fixed and mobile telecommunications services, TV contribution markets, corporate networks, and broadband markets for Internet Service Providers and for transport, maritime and in-flight markets.

In related news as reported by TMCnet, Eutelsat's Skylogic recently signed a distribution agreement with Teliasonera for Tooway service.

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