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European satellite giant SES ASTRA has wrapped up a deal with Netherlands’ LTO Commerce to provide satellite-based broadband service to Dutch farmers.

 

The deal will see SES (News - Alert) Astra provide the members of the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture with its two-way broadband service- ASTRA2Connect.

 

More than 200,000 households across Netherlands are believed to have no access to high-speed internet, mainly in the rural areas of the country. Most of these customers are agricultural entrepreneurs who depend on fast internet connections for the success of their businesses.

 

SES is no doubt the leading commercial satellite operator in the world and its clientele include the media giants like BSkyB (News - Alert), Canal Plus, Premiere and NBC.

 

ASTRA2Connect is a satellite-based solution that enables households to access Internet without terrestrial broadband connection. The infrastructure also lets customers to access Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

 

Under the deal SES ASTRA will provide the farmers with a modem and a satellite dish.

 

In Netherlands, ASTRA2Connect is marketed to the residential market via SES ASTRA's service provider Satelliet Electronics.

 

"With the agricultural market as one of the key business sectors in the Netherlands, we are very proud that we are able to offer farmers without broadband internet access a fast and easy solution with ASTRA2Connect," said Norbert Willems, Managing Director of ASTRA Broadband Services.

 

LTO Commerce is the sales arm for the country’s three major agriculture entities: LTO Noord, ZLTO en LLTB. These three organizations represent a total of almost 50.000 agricultural companies in the Netherlands.

 

"For the Dutch agriculture industry, broadband internet is of vital importance. I therefore very much welcome ASTRA2Connect as an excellent, innovative solution for farmers living in rural areas,” stated Joop Atsma, Chairman of the Dutch Parliamentary Commission for Agriculture.

 

SES ASTRA’s satellite fleet currently comprises 14 ASTRA and two SIRIUS satellites and they are delivering services to more than 117 million DTH and cable households across the world.