SES ASTRA has announced that is has signed a cooperation agreement with LTO Commerce, the sales division of the Dutch Federation of Agriculture and Horticulture, to provide its members with SES ASTRA's satellite-based two-way broadband service ASTRA2Connect.

The cooperation is supported by the Chairman of the Dutch Parliamentary Commission for Agriculture.

Currently, 200,000 to 250,000 households in the Netherlands do not have access to high-speed internet, mainly in the rural areas of the country. Many of them are agricultural entrepreneurs who depend on fast internet connections for the success of their businesses.

ASTRA2Connect is a fully satellite-based solution for broadband access that enables households in regions without terrestrial broadband connection to access broadband services. The innovative infrastructure offers a very reliable, always-on, two-way broadband internet access for flat service fees as well as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP).

The customer premises equipment - a modem and a satellite dish - is low cost and delivered with a tool for easy self-installation. In the Netherlands, ASTRA2Connect is marketed and sold to the residential market via SES ASTRA's service provider Satelliet Electronics.

"Our cooperation with LTO shows that ASTRA2Connect is in great demand, especially among end customers in rural areas," said Norbert Willems, Managing Director of ASTRA Broadband Services.

"With the agricultural market as one of the key business sectors in the Netherlands, we are very proud that we are able to offer farmers without broadband internet access a fast and easy solution with ASTRA2Connect."

Joop Atsma, Chairman of the Dutch Parliamentary Commission for Agriculture comments: "For the Dutch agriculture industry, broadband internet is of vital importance. I therefore very much welcome ASTRA2Connect as an excellent, innovative solution for farmers living in rural areas.