Hispasat provides TV and Internet to Italian high speed trains

Posted: 5:17 pm, May 1, 2012

HISPASAT have provided mobile Internet satellite service to the new Italian fleet of Italo high speed trains, which belongs to the NTV company, and it came into operation on April 28. It is the second initiative of this type that HISPASAT has carried out together with the Belgian service provider 21Net. These actions consolidate HISPASAT, which already provides this service in
five European countries, as one of the leaders of international reference in the development of mobile satellite services.

The service will be provided through the broadband platforms that HISPASAT Group maintains in 30º West orbital position and will enable users to enjoy the advanced features of Internet
access from their own device. It includes for the first time an exclusive solution for television reception in real time, which will make it possible for travellers to see, for example, sporting events or television series as if they were in the living room of their house.

Through a combination of multicast and unicast transmission, HISPASAT offers a high quality broadband connection without interruptions throughout the entire journey, even in tunnels. In
addition, the project presented a gyro-stabilized antenna, which allows a permanent satellite connection, integrated into the chassis of the train through an aerodynamic adaptation approved
by HISPASAT. This innovative service, unique in the world, is also exportable to other territories in which HISPASAT group operates. NTV, the first private high-speed railway company in Italy, has 25 Italo trains that connect twelve stations of nine Italian cities (Turin, Milan, Venice, Padua, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples and Salerno).

These 25 trains are added to the more than 30 of the European operator Thalys whose travellers have gotten these HISPASAT satellite broadband solutions since 2004. The highspeed fleet of Thalys connect Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris and Cologne. HISPASAT was the first satellite IP service provider that managed to give connectivity to more than 350 Km/h in a commercial setting and with technology and open standards (DVB-RCS).