Astra2Connect.

Last week ( 12.09.2008 ) SES ASTRA created a new broadband company to help sell the Astra2Connect product.

Press release as follows:

ASTRA Broadband Services bundles the successful broadband activities of SES ASTRA

Betzdorf (Luxembourg), 12 September 2008. – SES ASTRA, an SES company (Euronext Paris and Luxembourg Stock Exchange: SESG), announced today the creation of a new company bundling its successful broadband activities. The new company, ASTRA Broadband Services (ABBS), is a 100 percent owned subsidiary that will further promote and enhance SES ASTRA’s portfolio of products serving the dynamic market for satellite-based broadband services. A main focus of the new company is the further development and roll-out of ASTRA2Connect, a two-way high-speed internet service launched in April 2007, across several European markets.

ASTRA Broadband Services is led by Norbert Willems, as newly appointed Chief Executive Officer, who served in other management positions at SES ASTRA prior to this new assignment. Alessandro De Meo, also from SES ASTRA, has been appointed Chief Financial Officer. Peter Schüler, responsible for product sales since the start of ASTRA2Connect, has been named Chief Commercial Officer, and Patrick Biewer, also part of the ASTRA2Connect team, is the new Chief Technical Officer.

“In the last year, we have experienced an immense success with the roll-out of ASTRA2Connect” said Ferdinand Kayser, President and CEO of SES ASTRA. “In order to further support the dynamic development and serve the high demand from different European markets, we have created this new company. It will fully focus on this promising sector and serve the growing number of customers. I am confident that with ABBS we have created a centre of excellence for our growing number of broadband customers.”

Best regards, Eric.

The posting above by bthed refers to the NBB website.  This obviously refers to www.nbb.ie which on close inspection refers to Astra2Connect service.  So I think bthed was referring to an Astra2Connect terminal.   I have emailed him to clarify this.

Best regards, Eric.

If you want VoIP to work using a shared 64kbit/s uplink the hub will need to assign a significant proportion of the uplink bit rate to your site for the duration of the call and that allocation will need to be assigned in regularly and evenly spaced packets, say one packet, each and every half second.  It will also be essential that the VoIP bit rate (voice waveform coding and its IP packet overhead) is minimised.

The best I have ever seen ( using CDM570L modems ) was 10.8 kbits using G729a and very short packet headers.   So it may be possible to get VoIP to work over a 64k TDMA uplink but the number of active sites simultaneously using the uplink will be very limited and the VoIP packets will need to be assigned priority and even spacing.

I am not suprised that VoIP does not work.  It requires such careful software programming and configuration at both the hub and the remote site.   It is not impossible for Astra to get it working - It just strikes me as an improbable and amazing acheivement if they can do it.  

Is anyone with an Astra2connect terminal able to make satisfactory phone calls ?.  If so, please tell us how it was done.

I wonder if a particular VoIP phone is provided with Astra2 connect to enable Astra to remotely configure the phone voice codec and samples per packet etc.  I can't imagine a mass market product (as Astra2connect is supposed to be) to require the customer to understand and impement such configuration complexities.

Best regards, Eric.

Yes, i agree stick with your landline for now - it's crazy for them to offer VoIP on these systems so soon - the ultra low wattage of the BUC has always worried me with the Astra2Connect, it makes the upload speed so restrictive and its upload speed that is so important for VoIP traffic and also for fast browsing response time, yet they advertise it with VoIP support :s - how did you find the speeds on the Astra2Connect for data usage without the VoIP?