Telenor champions broadband over satellite service

Norwegian telecoms operator Telenor is looking to enter the Filipino broadband market with a satellite-based delivery system being offered by its local subsidiary Telnor Satellite Services. INQ7.net reports that Telenor and a local partner – Global Village Mobile Network Enterprise – are working on two projects with the National Telecommunications Commission and the National Power Corp, designed to be proofs-of-concept for the new service, dubbed ‘broadband global area network’ (BGAN). Telnor is said to be pushing the case for BGAN to be used in remote areas where satellite technology is the only viable option. Although satellite services have traditionally been expensive, compared to terrestrial and wireless alternatives, Telnor says costs have gone down significantly in recent years making BGAN a credible connectivity solution. Users typically pay USD2,000 to USD4,000 for a satellite modem and are then charged on a ‘per-usage’ basis, which Telnor claims are ‘not too far above the GSM global roaming charges’.