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HISPASAT, the Spanish satellite-based telecommunications operator, and DISH, the online telecommunications and content distribution services company, have joined forces to offer a new high-quality broadband satellite service to Mexico through ON Internet. The new service will be focused on the residential and corporate market, in order to extend Internet access to broader parts of the country.

Both companies made the announcement to the media during an informative breakfast held today in Mexico City, with the participation of the CEO of DISH México, José Luis Woodhouse; the Internet Division Director, Lorenzo Orozco, and ON's Director of Wireless Internet and Marketing, Santiago Ennis. HISPASAT was represented by the Business Director, Ignacio Sanchis. The joint goal of both companies is to provide high-quality Internet access service to Mexican residents, thus helping to bridge the digital divide and promote the development of connectivity in Mexico.

Connectivity today is essential for the economic and social development in any community. Thanks to their extensive coverage, high capacity and fast roll-out, satellites are the best technological solution to bring Internet access beyond where land-based networks reach. DISH México and HISPASAT announced their partnership today to open up a solution that expands Internet coverage in Mexico through a simple and accessible roll-out.

For his part, Ignacio Sanchis, Business Director of HISPASAT, stated that "HISPASAT is proud to collaborate together with DISH to bring the Internet to the parts of Mexico without Internet connection, or with a very poor quality connection. For us, satellites have a very important function: they make the most cutting-edge technology available to people and open the doors to the digital world to Mexican citizens. This will allow them to benefit from the opportunities that the Information Society offers. We couldn't imagine a better partner for this task than DISH, a highly regarded company with a strong presence throughout the country."

HISPASAT's satellite for Mexico

HISPASAT will use the capacity from the Amazons 5 high throughout satellite (HTS), which has been operational since last year and which features seven coverage spots over Mexico in the Ka band. Using this frequency band, together with the possibility to concentrate the satellite's power on smaller areas and the ability of HTS to reuse frequencies, directly increases the amount of information that can be transmitted, reaching higher speeds at lower connection prices.

HISPASAT and DISH have selected the SkyEdge II-c broadband satellite platform by Gilat, the world's leader in satellite network technology, solutions and services. The highly efficient, multi-service platform allows a wide range of solutions to be offered for small terminals. As such it able to provide reasonably priced high-quality broadband access for multiple market segments.

Extensive price and service options for all different needs

Thanks to this agreement, DISH will market satellite services through its ON Internet network intended both for the residential market as well as for small-, medium- and large-sized businesses, offering different Internet access packets with speeds that go from 2.5 Mbps up to 20 Mbps for residential users, and which reach 30 Mbps for companies. This way the prices can be tailored to the needs of each user.

ON offers new advantages for residential users, such as unlimited online browsing. Users will also have 8 hours at night when they can do activities like downloading video files and use streaming services without affecting their share and with no limits on their data usage at night.

A higher speed that also includes 8 hours of free night time use with no data limit is available for business services.

Towards bridging the digital divide

In many parts of Mexico it is still not possible to enjoy the advantages that the digital world provides for economic and social development. Satellite-based broadband technology is the ideal solution to bring Internet access to the areas that do not feature other telecommunications infrastructures. This will help to bridge the existing digital divide to a great extent.

INTERVIEW - SANTIAGO ENNIS

Santiago Ennis, Director of Wireless Internet and Marketing in ON noted that “this agreement with Hispasat will allow Dish Mexico to expand its commercial Internet opportunities through the ON Satellite Network throughout Mexico, offering the possibility to digitally connect different sectors of the populations in remote and difficult to access areas using satellites. This service will benefit many people and companies.”

What is included in the association between Hispasat and ON?

DISH has launched the ON brand to offer Internet connection throughout Mexico. As there are large parts of the country where other technologies do not exist, there is no better option than the Ka band of the Amazonas 5 satellite, which has specific coverage for these regions that can be easily deployed at a very competitive price.

Can you give us some details about the agreement, like the duration of the agreement between the two companies?

The new satellite-based ON service is provided by DISH and HISPASAT in Mexico. The offer includes a wide-ranging catalogue or products and services both for the residential market as well as for SMEs and it is now operative in the regions with coverage from the Amazonas 5 satellite.

It is a multi-year agreement and the service is being marketed as the satellite-based ON brand, from 2.5 up to 30 Megabytes, so that users can choose the option that best suits them.