Satellite broadband scheme set to boost local business

Aramiska has been selected to participate in a pilot satellite broadband scheme for businesses funded by the Industrial Research & Technology Unit in Lisburn, Northern Ireland.

Under the scheme Satellite Broadband for businesses will now become available to all small and medium-sized businesses in Northern Ireland.

The pilot scheme, which starts in February 2002, comprises 250 installations and businesses that have been granted support could receive up to £1500 in the first year.

Steve Petrie CMO of Aramiska said: “This participation will help expand the current sales activities in Aramiska in Northern Ireland and confirms the availability of our services everywhere in the UK and Ireland".

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across Northern Ireland will be among the first to benefit from the fast, always-on satellite broadband connectivity, which enables businesses to access broadband and accelerate their core business processes.

The SME Broadband Satellite Programme aims to encourage SMEs, in all areas where ADSL type services are not available, to take advantage of high-speed Internet connections that are not restricted by physical, geographic or terrestrial access restrictions.

The IRTU programme will provide funding of up to 50 per cent of set-up and first year running costs, to a maximum grant of £1500. It concerns companies with up to 250 employees and turnover not exceeding €40 million.

A full overview of the details of the support scheme for participating SMEs is available from the IRTU.

Aramiska is beating the ‘Broadband Bottleneck’ with a complete range of satellite-based broadband business packages for SMEs in the UK and Ireland.

The company's broadband satellite services directly address the growing requirement among SMEs in the United Kingdom and Ireland for broadband connectivity, particularly those that cannot currently access terrestrial broadband.

Aramiska offers a full range of service packages for businesses. Entry-level packages start at £99 per month and support up to 30 PCs. High-end packages that include guaranteed bandwidth and support for up to 100 PCs, are also available. All packages include full ISP services such as Web Caching, Web Space, Mail Server and 24-hour customer support. (SP)