Eutelsat said TIM agreed to purchase the entire Italian capacity on the its Konnect satellite, which started operations this month, as well as the vast majority of the capacity covering Italy on the follow-on satellite, Konnect VHTS, once it enters service. TIM will have exclusive rights for the distribution of satellite broadband in Italy on these satellites during the entire lifetime of the contract, said the company, adding that the total contract value of the deal comes to almost EUR 150 million.
It follows a similar contract with Orange in France for capacity on both satellites reached earlier this year. Konnect entered into service this month and has a total capacity of 75 Gbps, providing full or partial coverage in up to 15 countries in Europe and 39 in Africa at competitive monthly rates.
The Konnect VHTS satellite, meanwhile, will feature what Eutelsat describes as the most powerful on-board digital processor ever put into orbit and provide 500 Gbps of Ka-Band capacity over Europe when it eventually enters into service during the fiscal year ending in June 2023. It will enable TIM to bring even higher speeds of up to 200 Mbps to an even greater number of customers, said the partners.
