New satellite broadband agreement is 'boost for farmers'

Mark Wynn, managing director, Avonline Broadband
Mark Wynn, managing director, Avonline Broadband

Avonline Broadband, one of the UK's largest satellite broadband provider, has announced an agreement with UK operator Avanti that has expanded its range of satellite based broadband solutions for the farming industry.

The agreement to provide Avanti's latest technology alongside its existing solutions from Eutelsat means the company can now provide the widest-ever satellite broadband choice to farmers in broadband ‘notspots' and ‘slowspots'.

Avonline Broadband is the official satellite broadband partner to the National Farmers Union (NFU) and managing director Mark Wynn said: "With more than 1,000 systems already installed in farming-related properties we have proved conclusively how we are able to help farmers get fast broadband today, no matter where they live.

"The new packages provide a wider choice of services and data options delivered via satellite anywhere in the UK, no matter how remote. There is no phone line needed and no lengthy wait for an upgrade programme.

"Prices have never been better either. For instance, a 50GB data package costs £59.95 per month and includes unlimited overnight data usage. For those that need a lot of data, we now offer up to 150GB per month."

Under its new agreement with Avanti, customers also benefit from Avonline's Unique Service Promise. On a rolling 30 day measure, Avonline will deliver an average download speed of at least 9Mbps measured across its total Avanti customer base.

Alongside its new choice of satellite provider and innovative "Unique Service Promise", Avonline has introduced the opportunity to rent hardware to reduce start-up costs, and the option of spreading the installation costs over the first year.

"No-one else in the UK can give such a specific service commitment and so many different options to farmers. We believe we have overcome the historic barriers to the much wider use of satellite broadband," said Mark Wynn.

Avonline's satellite solutions can be installed at any farm or home typically within a week of order. A key attraction of satellite broadband is its ability to immediately reach any part of the UK, without infrastructure investment.

Farmers face increasing pressure from the Government to conduct more of their business online but many farmers are unable to get even basic internet connectivity from traditional copper or cable providers because of their remote location.

In addition, broadband speeds over ADSL, the technology that uses the copper wire telephone network, are generally slower in rural areas because of the longer distances to the telephone exchange.

Avonline has introduced a Fibre Guarantee which promises that, if and when fibre does become available at a customer's premises, if Avonline can provide a fibre alternative it will end the satellite contract and connect the customer to the new fibre service.