Germany finances Ukraine's use of Starlink alternative Eutelsat, Reuters reports
kyivindependent.com
Eutelsat serves as an alternative to tech billionaire Elon Musk's Starlink, which has played a key role in Ukraine's battlefield communications.

cross-posted from: https://biglemmowski.win/post/5842702

Germany is financing Ukraine’s access to a satellite internet network operated by French company Eutelsat, Reuters reported on April 4, citing Eutelsat CEO Eva Berneke.

  • towerful@programming.devEnglish
    36·
    1 day ago

    That’s great news!

    Ukraine currently has fewer than 1,000 terminals connecting to Eutelsat’s network, but Berneke [Eutelsat CEO] said the company aims to increase this to between 5,000 and 10,000 “relatively fast.”

    A Eutelsat spokesperson, Joanna Darlington, said discussions are ongoing regarding further funding from Germany and the EU.

    Starlink, which provides service to over 50,000 Ukrainian military, medical, and civilian users, has faced uncertainty over continued access.

    Excellent work. Will be interesting to see how “relatively fast” plays out, and if other countries step up.
    Musk cannot be relied upon as a military ally. Well, for some governments at least…

  • rbn@sopuli.xyzEnglish
    122·
    1 day ago

    Does anyone know if the Eutelsat service is technically comparable to Starlink? So far, I was under the impression that there’s no real alternative to it in terms of bandwidth and response time.

    Second, Eutelsat has been criticized a lot for (still today!) spreading Russian propaganda via their TV satellites. There’s even a dedicated section on that in their Wikipedia article. Not sure if it’s adequate to frame them now as the good guys.

    • reksas@sopuli.xyzEnglish
      1·
      12 hours ago

      musk is more on putin’s side than Ukraine’s, so it doesnt matter if service is comparable or not. Using compromised services like that might cost them everything.

    • fuzzy_feeling@programming.devEnglish
      13·
      1 day ago

      Joanna Darlington, Chief Communications and Investor Relations Officer for Eutelsat, told The Register that, over Europe, Eutelsat offers the same capabilities as Starlink in terms of coverage and latency, and the company’s LEO services were already deployed in Ukraine.

      and bandwidth is not as important as it is only for military not private use

      https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/07/eutelsat_starlink_ukraine/

      edit: haven’t seen the ceo of eutelsat make a nazi salute. if i had to pick my poison, it wouldn’t be the nazi one

    • Wimster@lemmy.wtfEnglish
      1·
      15 hours ago

      Ooooh F*. I just bought stocks of Eutelsat a few weeks ago. Didn’t knew they were working for RUS too.