Luxembourg based operators of the Astra satellites SES ASTRA have announced that it is to team up with AVC Europe.

With AVC Europe, a leading network and communications specialist, SES Astra will launch the first consumer broadband internet via Satellite aimed at UK customers via the Astra satellites.

The service will be branded 'AVC broadband' and will be available from January 1st 2004.

As with other satellite broadband solutions aimed at the consumer, this is a one-way system meaning that a modem and phone line are still required in order to upload information (ie sending email, page requests etc).

The service will be broadcast from SES-ASTRA's 28.2E postion meaning that for existing Sky customer no extra dishes are required. AVC/SES-ASTRA's installation team will replace your LNB for a Quad version - similar to that installed when purchasing Sky+.

More details can be found at avcbroadband.com.