Why India's first high-throughput satellite broadband service is a big deal

The resulting explosion of bandwidth would provide a big boost to commerce in underserved areas

The commercial launch of India’s first High-Throughput Satellite (HTS) broadband services by Hughes Communications on Monday takes the country into a new age.

Hughes has been running HTS for a while in conjunction with the Indian Space Research Organisation (Isro). But it used to target government organisations, including village panchayats and defence installations, and also telecom service providers.

Satellite broadband covers places, which are hard or impossible to reach with fibre, or microwave towers. HTS uses technology that offers high-speed, low-latency internet beamed from satellites.

Riding three Isro geo-stationary satellites (GSAT-11, 19 and 29), the new service covers the Himalayas