Nationwide solution for households that cannot be supplied with T-DSL in the fixed network Deutsche Telekom has launched its service T-DSL via satellite for customers who live in areas that cannot be served with the T-DSL fixed network product. T-DSL via satellite uses the well-known ASTRA satellite system with the orbital position 19.2 east. Deutsche Telekom is thus responding to its customers- wishes for wide coverage with broadband Internet lines. Following a successful pilot project (since November 1, 2001), all interested customers can now receive the "downstream turbo charger" with up to 768 kbit/s. Deutsche Telekom's fixed network line serves as a backward channel to the Internet and remains active for the entire online session. Together with this backward channel, increased bandwidth is only provided via the satellite link when necessary (e.g. for downloading large files, with pages that contain many elements or for video streaming). This Internet access requires an appropriate Internet provider that supports the transmission protocol PPP used by T-DSL via satellite, such as T-Online International.
T-DSL via satellite customers need ASTRA satellite equipment consisting of a satellite antenna at least 60 cm in diameter and a universal LNB as well as an internal DVB-S PC card or an external DVB-S USB box. Normally, the existing ASTRA satellite receiver system can continue to be used or only needs to be modified slightly. In addition, a standard Windows PC with Internet access is required. Deutsche Telekom offers two tariff models. The "T-DSL via satellite basic" rate is a volume-based rate which costs € 19.90 a month. This rate includes 500 megabytes of free data, with each additional megabyte which costs € 0.05. The " T-DSL via satellite pro" rate costs € 39.90 a month without additional costs for the volume of data downloaded via satellite. When the data volume of 500 Mb is exceeded, the customer will not be charged for additional megabytes, but there might be instances when the maximum bandwidth will have to be reduced due to capacity bottlenecks on the satellite. The one-time installation charge is € 99 in addition to the online fees of the Internet service provider.
Interested customers may order T-DSL via satellite by visiting a T-Punkt outlet, by calling the Deutsche Telekom ordering service (toll-free number 0800 33 09000) or by accessing Marktplatz Telekom on the Internet at